Forever is a Long Time Coming
by The Art of Dark Angel
Summary: Continuation of "Fire in the Sky". The Ark has crashed on Earth, along with another ship. New allies and enemies show up, along with some old ones. Rated "T". JxA feature, with hints of Miko/Raf. But not in the way you might think.
1. Unexpected Onslaught

_A/N: The slightly anticipated sequel has finally arrived. I hope you enjoy it._

_Creative Consultant: "Flair the demon dragon king". Helped me come up some good ideas._

_Disclaimer: All characters pertaining to this story (sadly) belong to Hasbro._

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Unexpected Onslaught

"Status report." the deep voice of the Captain of the Ark ordered, from his chair on the bridge. The ship had just dropped out of light-speed.

"It was a clean jump." Came the over-eager, young, voice of the ships Navigator. She was sitting just ten feet in front of the command chair. She spun her chair around and made eye contact with the captain. "We're green across the screen."

"Excellent work." The Captain said, dipping his chin slightly in a nod. "What is our location?"

The navigator turned back to her console and used her hands to flip through the hologaphic screens. "Looks like we slipped out a little early, Sir. We're currently orbiting a planet called Jupe-a-tier..."

"Heh. That's Jupiter, kid." The ships gunnery officer corrected with a mature, yet enthusiastic tone. He was sitting at his chair at the Ark's tactical station, situated just five feet to the right of the young navigator.

"Who comes up with this stuff?" the young bot asked, shaking her head. "I mean, seriously. What kind of name is Jupiter, anyways?"

The captain chuckled. "It is a word derived from ancient Earth, Young one. As much as we Cybertronian's believe in the Great Void, and the All-Spark, humans too believe in the existence of greater beings. Jupiter is the name of a ancient god, from Earth's past."

"Oh." the navigator said with an embarrassed tone.

"Ah. Don't worry about it, Kid." the tactical officer laughed. "You'll get the hang of all that information soon enough."

"What? Why?" The young bot asked, turning her head to look at him. "How long are we going to be staying?"

"Did you not read your mission briefing?" the captain asked, with a hint of concern. "It was my understanding that you did."

She spun her chair around, and faced her captain with a guilty expression. "I, uh, sorta glossed over that part ..."

Her captain made a deep rumbling noise from the back of his throat. "Very well. We are here to lend support to Optimus Prime and his remaining crew. As it was stated in his last deep-space transmission, the Decepticons have made their presence known on Earth. Not only that, but it was suggested that they have the Nemesis with them."

"Wait. Remaining crew?" the navigator repeated. She then asked in a worried voice"Was someone lost?"

"You didn't read that part, either?" The tactical officer asked. She shook her head no. "Cliffjumper, unfortunately, was lost to the Void."

"What?" The navigator asked in shock. "No! That can't be right. He was too strong. He can't be gone!"

"It is as the Chief says." The Captain assured her, "That is why we are going to Earth to lend assistance."

"Cliff..." the young bot mumbled, as she turned back to her console.

"What is our current position?" The captain asked, trying to distract his pilot.

"Uh... we're just a few clicks from Earth's orbit." She responded, sounding a little too professional.

"Any communications from our friends?" The Chief asked.

"That's a big negative." She reported, flipping through her screens, "All scopes are blank."

The captain hummed, and pressed his fingers together. "Not surprising."

"Sir?" The Chief asked, turning in his seat to look at his Captain.

The captain crossed his fingers together. "If the Nemesis in on Earth, chances are the Decepticons will be scanning for Autobot communications. Thus, Optimus would keep all transmissions to a minimum."

"Oh." the chief and the navigator said at the same time.

"So, how can we find them?" The pilot asked, turning her head to look at her Captain. "They could be any-" Her question was cut short by a sudden beeping noise from her computer. "Wait a click, I got something."

"Report." The Captain ordered.

"I don't know what it is..." She said, narrowing her eyes. "It's not an autobot signal. But it isn't Decepticon either..."

"Scrap!" the Chief shouted. He punched some commands into his console, bringing the Ark's defenses on-line. "We got heavy incoming!"

"What-?" the Captain began to ask, but a sudden impact struck the Ark, and cut him off.

"Meteors!" The chief shouted. The Ark's auto-cannons began firing. More hits rang across the hull of the ship. "Lieutenant!" He yelled at the ships Navigator, "Get us out of this mess!"

"Roger!" the Lieutenant exclaimed, as she tried her best to avoid the giant space rocks. "Scrap! There's too many-"

Another, larger, impact shook the Ark. It caused the Lieutenant to be thrown from her chair.

"That was not a meteor!" The Captain yelled, "That was an energy blast!"

The Lieutenant managed to climbed back into her seat. "Scrap! We got a bogie!, Chief! Are you able to get a lock?"

"Blasted thing is to fast for the auto-cannons!" The Chief answered, slamming his fists into the controls. "Fraginn' thing can move!"

Another blast rocked the Ark. All three autobots gripped their chairs to remain sitting.

"We may have another, ugh!" the lieutenant groaned, as yet another blast hit, "Problem! Sensors picked up another ship! It's profile matches the Nemesis!"

"By the All-Spark..." The Captain said in awe. "Chief! I don't want to give the Nemesis a chance to touch us." he ordered. "Charge the main cannon, and shoot it down."

"Roger that, Sir." the Chief responded. He punched a button on his board. "Main cannon charg- Oof!"

More blasts from the unknown ship, combined with hits from the meteor shower, struck the Ark.

"Frag it!" the young navigator shouted. "Chief! Get that guy off my tail! One more hit to our back end, and I'm not going to be landing this thing, I'm going to be crashing it! "

"I can't do a fraggin' thing!" The Chief shot back, "Whatever that ship is, it's moving too fast for me to get a lock!"

"Lieutenant!" The Captain shouted, "Get us to the surface. If we get shot down, I do not want us to end up as part of scenery!"

"I'm doing my best, Sir." she defended. "This isn't... wait... I've got something!"

"What is it?" The Captain asked his pilot.

"It's weak... but I got two Autobot signals on the grid." She answered. "No, wait... make that six."

"Six?" The gunnery chief asked in disbelief.

"Angle us towards that signal, Lieutenant." The Captain ordered, "That must be where Optimus has his base of operations, located."

"Aye, Sir. Changing -" She was cut off as another warning light flashed to life. Her optics went wide. "Brace for IMPACT!"

The Ark and the attacking ship were both hit with the Nemesis's main fusion cannon.

"SCRAP!" The chief yelled. "All systems are off-line! We're flying dark!

"Open all air flaps!" The Captain ordered. "Slow our decent!"

"Flaps aren't responding, Sir!" the lieutenant reported, "Emergency power is gone! The hull is on fire! We got nothing! And, Scrap! We're heading right for a mountain!"

"Matrix preserve us..." The Captain whispered, as the Ark crashed into the surface.

…

"DAMAGE REPORT!" The general of the attacking ship demanded as he slammed his fist into his command chair.

"Navigation off-line!," His weapons master/pilot answered with a feral growl. "Emergency power engaged! The autobot ship took the brunt of the blast from the Nemesis!"

"Keep us airborne!" The general order, slamming his fist again.

"And how do you expect us to do that?" the commander asked with sneering sarcasm, from her position at the engineering station. "We barely have enough power for the engines to make a controlled decent!"

"Blast it!" The general yelled.

"Sir!" The pilot growled, pointing out the main window.

"What!"

"The Ark! She is on fire!" the pilot exclaimed. "She is loosing altitude!"

"Some good news..." The General grumbled. "What of the Nemesis?"

"That cursed thing is just sitting there." the Commander answered. "According to my scans, her main batteries are gone."

"Then what did they hit us with?" The general demanded.

"The power reading suggests it was her main fusion cannon." the Commander explained, as she typed commands into her computer. "If the Ark wasn't in the way, we wouldn't even be here."

"The main cannon?" the pilot growled, "Megatron would not be so foolish as to use it on such a target."

"No." The general agreed. "Only one decepticon would be so stupid."

"That would be Starscream." The Commander said with a hiss. "Idiot."

"Can you land us somewhere safe?" The general demanded of his pilot.

"Humph. The ship, she is badly damaged." The pilot explained. "I am able to land, yes. But, it will be rough."

"We have another problem." The Commander said. She turned away from her console.

"What?" her General barked.

"No need to so rude." she chided. "Our current energy reserves are running out quickly. Which means we have a puncture in our energon tanks."

"Blast!" he yelled, slamming his fist. Again. "What is our location?"

"That is a problem..." The pilot gulped. "We are currently flying lower, and lower, over, what is called the Pacific ocean."

"What!" the general shouted.

"What is worse..." The pilot continued, "Is our current trajectory puts us in line with the Mariana Trench. Which is the deepest part of this world's ocean."

"Commander! Shunt all power to hull integrity!" the general demanded.

"Yes, General." The Commander said, as she entered the command on her console. "That's everything we have."

"Brace for impact in... five, four, three, two..." The pilot counted down, as the ship lost altitude.

…

"Report." Starscream ordered. He was standing on the bridge of the Nemesis, with his hands folded behind his back.

"The Ark has suffered major damage." A vehicon drone reported. "It crash landed into the side of a mountain. Just outside of Jasper, Nevada."

"And the other ship?" Starscream asked next.

"It was also hit with the main cannon. Though not directly." The drone explained. "It's pilot managed to land it in the Pacific ocean."

"Hm." Starscream shrugged indifferently. "No matter."

"My Lord." A second vehicon said, "The computer managed to identify the second ship."

Interests piqued, Starscream walked over the scanners, where the second vehicon was standing. He glanced at the screen silently.

"Set course for that crash site." Starscream ordered. "I want that ship recovered immediately."

"My Lord?" the vehicon asked in a confused tone. "What about the Ark? Should we not -"

With a growl, Starscream smacked the drone across face with the back of his hand. "Do not question my orders! And do as I command!"

"Yes, My Lord." the drone said, as he picked himself up of the floor. "Right away."

"Oh, did I miss a show?" Knock Out asked sarcastically, as he walked onto the bridge.

Starscream turned to face the Decepticon medic. "And what are you doing here, Doctor? Should you not be... taking care of our dear, deactivated, leader?"

"That's just the reason why I came up here to chat, Mighty Starscream." Knock Out explained. "I have an update that might interest you."

"Explain." Starscream said suspiciously, narrowing his optics.

"If you would be so kind as to follow me?" Knock Out asked, gesturing with his thumb towards Starscream's private quarters.

The two walked into the room. Once the doors were closed and locked, Knock Out began talking.

"It seems, My Lord, that Megatron is beginning to reactivate." The medic explained.

"How is that possible?" Starscream sneered.

"Something to do with the Dark energon flowing through his body." Knock Out answered with a shrug. "It appears, that in his haste, Megatron did not consider the potential adverse affects the energon would have on him."

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.

"After much study, it would seem that Megatron shall remain in stasis lock. Forever." Knock Out said. "That is, unless, a piece of Dark energon is re-inserted into this spark chamber."

"A pity then, that the original piece was destroyed in the explosion." Starscream surmised.

Knock Out crossed his arms. "Quite. However, I must inform you, My Lord, that Megatron's brain is active."

Starscream scowled at Knock Out. "Is he _aware_ of his surroundings?"

"It's a possibility, yes." The medic shrugged. "Though I can't be certain."

"That... may be a problem." Starscream hummed, as he stroked his chin.

"Not necessarily." Knock Out smirked.

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.

"Well, like I said... Megatron will only wake up if Dark energon is put in his spark chamber." Knock Out explained. "If it isn't, well... his mind will only remain active until the remaining energon runs out. Which isn't very long, if I am to guess." He shot a knowing smile at Starscream, "It would be a pity if that came to pass."

"You know something..." Starscream growled. "Tell me. Now."

"I know that Megatron used dark energon on the Autobot, Cliffjumper." Knock Out said. "I also know that he used it on an army of Cybertonian zombies here on Earth. Now, what are the odds of there being fragments left over at those two locations?"

"I see." Starscream nodded his head. "If you knew there is dark energon, why have you not gone to retrieve it yet?"

"Maybe I don't want to." Knock Out said. "Maybe, I like the way you run things better than how Megatron ran them."

Starscream narrowed his optics. "Oh? And what price do I have to pay for your silence?"

Knock Out shrugged. "I haven't decided. But, I'll let you know when I do. In the mean time, we have to convince Soundwave that Megatron cannot be fixed."

…

Silverbolt landed near the crash site. A little roughly, due to the shock wave caused by the Ark, He transformed into his robot mode (after Miko and Raf got out his cockpit, and Arcee got off his back.). He looked up at what was once, the autobot bunker.

The Arks thrusters were sticking out of the mountain, angled in the air at 30 degrees. The fire on the hull had been extinguished from the the rocks and dirt falling on top of it.

"Whoa..." he whispered. "I hope the others are okay."

Arcee was hugging herself. "I hope so too."

Silverbolt used his arm computer to scan for autobot signatures. "I'm only reading four energy sources." he said, after thirty seconds of scanning. "Three unknowns. Which are pretty strong. And the fourth is... Optimus... and it's weak. But I'm not getting the others at all."

"Maybe... they managed to bridge out." Raf said hesitantly, "And Optimus had to... stay behind to activate it."

"Yeah," Miko said, trying to sound reassuring. "You never know, right?"

"Yeah...' Arcee agreed.

"Man..." Silverbolt gasped, he, and the others, walked towards the Ark. "Look at those pot marks. This thing took some major damage. " He noticed that two of the five thrusters were completely destroyed. As in, completely gone. "Whatever hit it was big and powerful."

"The Nemesis." Arcee growled. "Has to be. Blasted Starscream."

"How are we going to get to Optimus?" Raf asked suddenly. "If he's hurt, he might need our help."

Arcee looked down at her small friend. "I don't know, Raf. With the Ark in the way, there's no way we can get to him."

"Maybe we can ask whoever is inside the ship for help." Miko suggested. "Can you open the doors, Arcee?"

"I can try." Arcee answered. She walked over to the underbelly of the ship. "If I'm right, there should be a entrance ramp here somewhere."

"It's right there." Silverbolt said, holding up his scanning tool. "But I don't think we can open it. The ship has absolutely no power."

"Scrap!" Arcee yelled. She punched the hull of the Ark with her right fist. "Piece of fraggin' junk!"

Just then, the exit ramp hissed open. Silverbolt, Arcee, Raf, and Miko all jumped at the noise. They quickly got out of the way, as the giant ramp slowly lowered itself.

"Please do not insult my ship." the deep voice of the Ark's Captain, kindly requested.

TBC.


	2. Allies, Old and New

_AN: Well. I'm glad you guys are enjoying this little tale. That, and I should point out, that there's a difference between our measurement of "feet", and an autobot's measurement of "feet". That is all._

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Allies Old and New

Upon spotting the captain of the Ark, Arcee took a knee, crossed her in a 'x' across her chest bowed her head.

"Sentinel Prime." She said with awe heavy in her voice.

The legendary autobot General drew himself to his full 45 foot height and smiled. "Commander Arcee. It has been far too long." He walked forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Please, stand."

Arcee stood up, and smiled at him. He looked just as she remembered him. His torso, forearms, lower legs, and head were a deep maroon, while his hands, upper legs, face, and biceps were silver. She even admitted to herself, that he looked good for an autobot that was 12, 000 years old. He looked similar to Optimus, minus the center head spike. And, of course, a little older.

"It's a honor to see you again, Sir." She said with pride. "It's been too long."

Sentinel beamed at her. "The privilege is mine, Commander." He gazed over his shoulder. "But, I do believe there is someone who is, to put it in her own words, 'dying to see you again'." Arcee peered around his massive form to see who he was referring to.

"Arcee!" The lieutenant shouted, as she exited the Ark. The spunky navigator ran up to the commander and embraced her in a hug.

"Spotter!" Arcee exclaimed happily, as she returned the hug. "It's good to see you again, Sister."

Spotter released her, and took a step back. "I'd say." she giggled, as she looked Arcee up and down. "What gives? You're all pink now."

"Yeah, and you still look the same." Arcee smirked.

Spotter was a foot shorter than Arcee, and was almost identical looking. Where Arcee was pink and black, she was yellow and sky blue. She had three head spikes (one on her forehead, and one on either temple) that curved straight back,. She didn't have wings, or spikes on her arms and legs, and instead of a mouth, she had an angled face plate that flashed blue in time with her speach.

"Yeah, so?" Spotter challenged jokingly, placing her hands and her hips. "Nothing wrong with staying the same. Besides, what made you change your colors?"

"Oh, Right." Arcee said, shaking her head. "I forgot. Sentinel, Spotter. It's my pleasure to introduce you to Silverbolt. He changed my colors for me, as a gift. Sort of."

"Silverbolt?" Spotter and Sentinel asked at the same time.

"Uh, hi..." Silverbolt waved nervously. "It's a real pleasure."

"Greetings, young warrior." Sentinel said kindly. "I was not aware that Optimus had recruited a new member to his crew. Though, I do not recall ever seeing you on Cybertron."

Silverbolt cleared his throat nervously. "Uh, yeah. That's because I'm not from Cybertron." he explained. "I'm, or rather I was, human."

"Bluh?" Spotter gasped. "Okay. Confused here."

Miko decided to step in. "Long story short, Silverbolt was a human named Jack. He ran into some cybertronian nanobots and now he's an autobot. The end."

Sentinel looked down at Miko in surprise. "Ah. Thank you, young human, for that rather brief explanation." He paused as he noticed Raf as well. "I see Optimus has taken his roll as the protector of humanity quite personally."

"I'd say so, yeah." The Ark's tactical officer chuckled. He walked down the ramp and joined the others.

"Blaster!" Arcee exclaimed happily. "Scrap. It's good to see you."

The red, gold, and gray 25 foot 'bot shrugged. "What can I say? Everyone's glad to see Blaster."

Arcee quirked her brow at him. "Aaaaand, your ego hasn't changed a bit, I see." she shook her head. "Anyways. Spotter, Sentinel, Blaster,-" she gestured to Silverbolt, Raf, and Miko, "-The young girl is Miko-"

"Hiya." Miko waved in greeting.

"-this young boy is Raf-"

Raf waved nervously, "Hello."

-And, last but not least, this is Silverbolt."

"Yeah. That's me." Silverbolt grinned.

"Hm." Sentinel hummed, and crossed his arms. "I am still curious as to the exact details of Silverbolt's story, and how a human became a Cybertronian, but that will have to wait." He looked over his shoulder at the mountain, and then returned his gaze back to Arcee. "If the Ark's sensors were correct, was this not your base of operations, Commander?"

Arcee dipped her head sadly. "Yes, Sir. It was. Silverbolt scanned the area, and only managed to sense Otimus's life sign. But not the others."

"We think, or rather hope, they managed to bridge-out." Miko explained, drawing the attention of all gathered.

"Well, we gotta get Optimus out," Spotter reasoned. "Only problem with _that_, is there's a big mountain in the way."

Sentinel rubbed his chin in thought. "Then we must dig through it."

Blaster crossed his arms. "That's all good, Sir. But how are we gonna do that?"

"By becoming that which will help us." the titan explained. His optics flickered for a brief second, as he seemed to access something. When they stopped, he walked away from the group without saying anything. However, before anyone could ask what he was up to, the sound of the General's transformation process rang out across the desert. Metal plates, wires, wheels, and joints rearranged themselves. What once was a human-shaped robot was now a red Mk15 LVS Wrecker, complete with a large backhoe arm.

"Sweet alt-mode, Sir." Spotter said, nodding her head in approval. "What do you suggest that I become?"

"Whatever you wish, Lieutenant." Sentinel answered, as he drove over the the side of the mountain, some fifteen feet away from the Ark. He lowered four stabilizing struts, two on either side, and then, using his digger, cut into the rock.

"Well, I'm too small to help with the digging." Spotter reasoned. She looked at Arcee. "Any ideas, Sister? Like, what's your mode?"

Arcee chuckled. "I'm a Ninja motorcycle." She quickly transformed into her alt-mode, and back to her robot mode. "See?"

"Nice." Spotter commented with a grin. "Can I be one too?"

Blaster laughed, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why not pick something else, Kid?"

"Aww..." Spotter pouted. "How come?"

Silverbolt spoke up, before Arcee could say anything. "Well, why not be an ATV, or an All Terrain Vehicle? They're like a motorcycle, but they have four wheels instead of two."

"Oh." Spotter whispered.

"Oh, yeah. That would be really sweet." Miko said, trying to help Silverbolt. "ATVs are super cool."

"Sounds good." Spotter quipped. She fell into silence as her optics flickered, just like Sentinel's had previous. After 30 seconds of searching, they stopped flickering. With a step-back, and a wink, she converted into a yellow Yamaha Tesseract. With a laugh, she transformed back into her robot mode. She looked the same as before, but now, she had wheels on her shoulders and feet.

"Not bad, Little sister." Arcee commented. "Not bad at all."

"Thanks." Spotter beamed. She then turned to Blaster. "Whatcha gonna be?"

"Already picked this sweet ride." Blaster smirked. He transformed into a military H1 Hummer. Mounted on his back, where his "trunk" would be, was what appeared to be two cannons, that looked very serious. They were five feet in length.

Spotter had a puzzled look on her face. "What the hack are those fraggin' things supposed to be?"

"That's a good question, actually." Arcee agreed.

Blaster returned to his robot mode. All four of his wheels were hidden, and his cannons were mounted on either forearm.

"According to the specs I downloaded," He explained, "They're M 230 chain guns. They use 120mm shells to seriously mess up a target. And apparently, they can reduce buildings, or any standing structure, to rubble."

"That... sounds pretty useful." Raf said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Whoa." Miko gasped.

"Wow." Silverbolt chuckled. "Miko struck speechless. I'm shocked."

"Hey!" Miko shouted, sending a death glare at him. "Not funny!"

Spotter looked at Arcee. "Do they always do that?"

"Do what?" Arcee asked.

"Fight with each other." Spotter clarified. "Aren't they supposed to be friends, or something?"

Silverbolt laughed at the question. "Yeah. We're friends. We all are. But even friends like to mess with one another once in awhile.

"Hey Silverbolt," Blaster said suddenly. Silverbolt turned his attention to the taller bot. "Why do you have both wings and car wheels? I can't figure it out."

Silverbolt and Arcee exchanged a look. He then returned his attention back to Blaster. "I have two alt-modes. One's a jet, the other is a car."

"Wait, what?" Spotter asked. "Two alt-modes? How is that possible?"

"I've heard of that before." Blaster answered. "Back on Cybertron. Some bots, and some cons, were given special upgrades and could transform into three different modes. There were even rumors of there being some cons that had four, five or even six different modes."

"Six?" Arcee asked in shock. "How would that even work?" She pointed at Silverbolt with her thumb, "Silverbolt had enough trouble with two modes. I can't even imagine how tough it would be with more than that."

"I didn't say it wouldn't be tough," Blaster grumbled. "I only heard rumors of there being cons with six-" He stopped talking, when suddenly Silverbolt's and Arcee's comm-units lit up.

"Scrap." Silverbolt mumbled. "It's Fowler."

Arcee sighed heavily. "Our human contact." she explained to Blaster and Spotter. "This countries' government found out about us when we first came here, so the assigned a person called Special Agent Fowler as our go between." she looked at Silverbolt. "Go ahead."

"Hey, Agent Fowler." Silverbolt greeted casually, as he activated his arm unit. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Fowler's voice sounded irritated. "Don't play dumb with me, Kid. I have reports coming in from a lot of different people saying that there were three ships of unknown origin in low orbit. Then two of the ships entered Earth's atmosphere. One was reported over Nevada, and the other over the Pacific. Now, you try tell me that you bots don't know anything about that. And where's Prime?"

"Well..." Silverbolt said hesitantly. Arcee decided to step in.

"Agent Fowler, this Arcee." The commander said, speaking into her own communicator. "Are you sitting down?"

"Yeah. I am." Fowler said, sounding suspicious. "I'm not gonna like what you have to say, am I?"

"Probably not." Arcee agreed. "You want the long version, or the short version?"

"Let's start with the short, then go from there." Fowler answered, sounding exasperated.

"Well, that ship that was spotted over Nevada? That was an Autobot ship. It's called the Ark, and on board were three autobots named Blaster, Spotter, and Sentinel Prime." She paused for a second, then continued. "The Ark crash landed into bunker, when it was most likely shot down by either the Nemesis, or that other ship you mentioned. Bulkhead, Bee, and Ratchet are MIA, and Optimus is stuck inside."

"Wait a second." Fowler said, after Arcee was finished. "Optimus is trapped in your base, there are three more bots on Earth, and this Ark, crashed into the bunker?"

"Hey!" Spotter shouted. "It's not my fault we crashed. You can blame the Nemesis for that."

"Who is this?" Fowler demanded. "Identify yourself."

"That was Lieutenant Spotter," Blaster answered. "And I'm Gunnery Chief Blaster. Spotter was the navigator for the Ark. She did her best in making sure it landed in one piece. Unfortunately, us hitting the bunker couldn't be avoided."

"Right." Fowler said. It almost sounded like he had face-palmed. "Any idea who was on that other ship?"

"Nope." Spotter said with a shrug. "But considering they attacked us, it's a safe bet they aren't the friendly sort."

"Really." Fowler said sarcastically. "Well that's just great." He sighed heavily. "You bots need any help tracking down your lost troops?"

"Well, considering they could be anywhere, and that they haven't contacted us yet," Arcee said a little impatiently, "Yeah. That might be useful."

"Right. I'll assemble a task force, and we'll head out as soon as we can." Fowler stated. "In the mean time, you guys try and dig Optimus out of that mountain. Or what's left of it."

"Already on it, Agent Fowler." Silverbolt chimed in. "Sentinel took on the form of a LVS Wrecker with a backhoe. He's digging through the sidewall as we speak."

"Sounds good." Fowler agreed. "I'll keep in touch, and try give you guys daily updates. You do the same. Fowler out."

With that, all four bots switched off their comm-units.

"Peh. Sounds like a really nice human." Spotter complained. "Why are you guys taking orders from him?"

"We aren't." Arcee explained. "We just let him think he we do. It keeps him happy, and keeps his Government from locking us up and disassembling us for study."

Blaster looked surprised. "They would do that?"

Silverbolt shrugged. "Maybe. Thanks to Starscream. There are a lot of humans that think we're all the same. It's taken a lot of convincing from Fowler to prove otherwise. As a result, we have to keep our activities off of the grid."

"And let me guess," Spotter scoffed as she crossed her arms. "If you don't, that human gets really mad, and what? Threatens you?"

"Kinda." Miko answered. "But not often. Fowler has a lot of respect for Optimus, so he usually listens when Optimus tells him not to do anything stupid."

"Which doesn't happen very often," Raf added, when Spotter and Blaster exchanged worried looks. "For the most part, he leaves us alone."

Arcee sighed. "Yeah. That's true."

"Autobots. Over here." Sentinel called out. They group walked over to where he was digging. He had transformed back into his robot form. He was shaped similar to Optimus, with windows on his chest, and four wheels on his legs. His backhoe was positioned on his back.

"What's wrong, Sir?" Blaster asked, looking up at the General. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, and no." Sentinel answered, as he studied the whole he had dug. The others turned their attention to it. It was roughly ten feet tall, and five feet wide. "The whole is as large I am able to make it, without risking collapse," He explained. "That, and there is a think metal wall in the way that I am unable to penetrate."

Arcee chuckled bitterly. "Yeah. This bunker was used by the humans as a storage facility for nuclear weapons," She explained. "So that wall is going to be at least two meters thick."

Spotter took a knee a peered in the whole. "Well, I can fit in there. And I'm pretty sure my laser cutter could slice through that wall."

"Alright," Arcee said, as Spotter stood up. "Let's say you can cut through, then what? Optimus is probably hurt really bad. He won't fit through this whole, so we can't get him into the Ark." She looked at Silverbolt. "Bolt. Your sensors are the strongest. Can you scan and see if any CR tanks are still working?"

"I can try." Silverbolt said, as he knelt in front of the whole. He used his arm scanner to asses the situation within the damaged base. "The main energon tank is intact. But the repairs we made to it after the scraplette attack, have been undone."

"Scraplettes?" Spotter screamed in panic, startling everyone. "They're here on Earth? We're not gonna be eaten, are we?"

Arcee starred her down. "No. Stop being a worry-bot." She turned her attention back to Silverbolt, "Anything else?"

"Well, with the main power off-line, I can't tell if the med-bay is operational," Silverbolt continued. "Ops is gone, that's for certain. And... wait a second. Optimus's signal is moving."

"What?" all the others asked in surprised.

"You are certain, Silverbolt?" Sentinel asked, sounding doubtful. Silverbolt looked over his shoulder at the older bot.

"I can't tell where he is exactly, but he seems to be moving towards us." Silverbolt answered. "And very slowly too. He must be crawling. Or dragging himself."

"He musta heard your digging, Sir." Spotter reasoned. She knelt down started to crawl in the whole. "I'm going in."

"Be careful, Kid." Blaster warned. Spotter looked over her shoulder at him.

"Aren't I always?"

Spotter continued to crawl until she reached the solid steel wall. Remaining kneeling, she placed her hands together, and transformed them into a three-pronged 'D'-shaped, laser cutter. She took aim at the lower left section of the wall, and activated it. Three green beams shot out of the gun, and the wall began to glow red, as the tool heated the metal.

"Scrap." She cursed. "This is going to take awhile..." she activated her comm-link. "Silverbolt. Can you tell me how long it will take me to cut through?"

"Sure." Silverbolt answered. "Judging by your laser's power out-put... you're cutting about one inch per second, and you have 120 inches to get through. So, it will take you at least two minutes to cut through the other side."

"Scrap." Spotter grumbled, as she shook her head. "Which means, in order to get through quickly, I have to keep the whole small. Say, just big enough for me to fit in it in my alt-mode."

"You mean us." Arcee corrected her. "You won't be able to move Optimus by yourself."

"Yeah, yeah." Spotter agreed irritably. "Sure. As I was saying... if I keep the whole small, say five tall by five feet wide... and it's 6 feet deep..."

"That's 150 cubic feet, Spotter." Raf said over Silverbolt's comm-unit. "And seeing as how you're cutting upwards at a pace of 30 seconds per foot, it will take you about an hour and a half to get through."

"Frag it." Spotter bit out. "Any more good news?"

"Yeah. Once you finish cutting, we still have to move the fraggin' chunk out of the way," Arcee complained.

"Silverbolt." Sentinel said suddenly. "Is Optimus still moving?"

"No, Sir." Silverbolt shook his head. "He stopped moving. Which means he's must be running out of power."

Sentinel nodded his head. "So it would seem." He looked at Blaster. "Chief, take Arcee and see if you two are able to restore power to the Ark."

"Sir?" Blaster and Arcee asked at the same time.

"If you can restore power to the Ark, we may be able to open the forward doors, and get to Optimus more quickly." Sentinel explained.

"Yes, Sir." Blaster said. He turned to Arcee. "Let's go, Commander. We got work to do."

She, in turn, looked at Raf and Miko. "Let's go kids, you might be able to help."

"Right." Raf said excitedly.

"Shu-weet! Miko exclaimed.

Blaster, Arcee, Raf, and Miko, quickly walked back towards the ramp of the Ark.

"What about me, Sir?" Spotter asked over Silverbolt's comm.

"We three shall remain here." Sentinel answered. "And continue our efforts."

"Right." Spotter huffed. She fell into silence as she continued cutting. It was going to be a long wait...

TBC.


	3. Dark Abyss

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Dark Abyss

"Curse the VOID!" Scorponok, the general of the decepticon ship, yelled. "And curse that fool Starscream!"

The 60 foot, black and purple giant, was hunched over in his command chair. To say that he was unhappy with his ship being shot down and stuck 4000 fathoms under the Pacific ocean, would be a grave mistake.

His female commander, Slipstream, turned in her chair and looked at her general. "And what good does it do us, with you cursing that fool's name?"

Scorponok turned his head and eyed the purple, gray, and blue engineer. "Don't try my patience," He growled. "I would have little to no trouble with extinguishing your miserable spark."

Slipstream smirked at the giant. "Those words would mean so much more, if you hadn't used them before. And besides, seeing as how I am the only one here that can fix this ship, I know you won't kill me."

"Bah." Scorponok dismissed her statement and turned his attention to his navigator. "Ravage. Report."

The giant, black and silver, robotic cat, currently hard-wired to the ships main computer, lifted it's head from it's sleeping position.

"The Darksyde... she is severely damaged." Ravage reported, using the computer to talk. "It will take much time, and many resources, to make effective repairs to her."

The general used his giant hand to face-palm. "Curses."

"And seeing as how we're stuck 20, 000 feet underwater," Slipstream scoffed, "That means repairing the ship is next to impossible."

"The energon tanks are nearly depleted as well." Ravage agreed with her. "In order to make proper repairs, they must be recharged."

"I already told you," Slipstream said angrily, "The tanks are leaking. So recharging them, even if we had the energon, would be pointless."

"Then you will simply have to repair them." Scorponok ordered.

Slipstream stood up form her chair, and sneered. "Are you insane?" she shook her head. "Of course you are. I can't just "simply repair them". I need tools and supplies. And depending on how large the whole is, I might take weeks to fix it. And that's even with a crew -"

With a growl, Scorponok stood up, crossed the bridge in two strides, and with his right hand, slammed the 25 foot form of his commander against the hull.

"One more word, Clone, and I will squeeze the life from you." the titan threatened. "I don't want your excuses. I want solutions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly." Slipstream grunted, with a pained expression. With a sneer, Scorponok dropped her. She fell and landed in a crumpled heap.

"Now," Scorponok said, as he walked over to his chair and sat back down. " Do we have any power at all?"

Slipstream picked herself up and returned to her station. "We're currently at 20 percent power."

"Ravage. Conduct a scan, and see if there is any energon deposits nearby." Scorponok ordered.

"Scanning..." Ravage said, and then fell silent. After several minutes scanning, he reported, "No energon deposits found."

"Curse the Void." Scorponok growled, as he slammed his fist into the arm of his chair. Again."Scan for any mineral deposits. Are there any that we can use to effect repairs?"

"Scanning..." The cougar said. "Yes, there are. But without proper drilling equipment, they are unobtainable."

"Blast it!" Scorponok yelled. "What else can go wrong?"

Ravage's eyes lit up. "Warning: Ship approaching."

"The Ark?" Scorponok demanded.

"Negative." Ravage responded. "Profile matches the Nemesis."

The general slammed his fist into his chair. "Curse the Void! That fool Starscream managed to track us down."

"Not only that," Slipstream said, as she studied the screens before her, "We're being lifted by the Nemesis's tractor beam."

"WHAT?" Scorponok demanded. "If that fool thinks we will go down with out a fight, he has another thing coming." He looked over at Slipstream. "Commander. Find us alternate modes, now! I want to give that idiot a surprise he'll never forget!"

"Searching." Slipstream stated, as she began to quickly scan for suitable vehicles. She scanned through a multitude of different modes of transportation, until she found plans for three in which she was certain her General would approve of. "I found something," she said, indicating to her screen.

Scorponok looked at the screen and smiled. "Excellent. Those will work perfectly." He turned his attention back to Ravage. "How much longer until we reach the surface?"

"We will break surface in approximately 2 minutes," Ravage reported.

"More than enough time..." Scorponok smiled evilly. "Slipstream. You will take the jet mode."

"Yes, General." Slipstream nodded.

"Ravage. You will take the car mode Slipstream found."

"Affirmative," the cougar responded.

"And I will take that tank." Scorponok said. "Now, once the Nemesis has pulled us out of the water, it will most likely place us on land to conserve energy. When it does, we will strike. Is that clear?"

"Yes, General." Slipstream and Ravage said at the same time.

"Excellent." the general smiled. "Report."

"We are clear of the water, General." Ravage answered. "And as you predicted, The Nemesis is moving us towards land. More specifically, she is moving us to a group of Islands."

"Islands?" Slipstream repeated. "As in land surrounded by water?"

"He means to strand us there." Scorponok guessed. "That is, if we refuse to join his cause. He's more clever than I originally thought."

"Which really isn't saying much." Slipstream said sarcastically. "If he really wanted us to follow him, he would have left us in the water, and then negotiated our services."

"He must want the Darksyde then." Scorponok concluded. "Report."

"According to scans, the Nemesis is moving us towards an island called Guam." Ravage stated.

"Is the island populated?" Slipstream asked.

"Yes."

"Excellent." Scorponok said. "We can easily dominate these pathetic humans, and use them to repair our ship."

"That is, if we defeat Starscream." Slipstream reminded him.

"Bah." Scorponok sneered. "He is of no concern. Once we cause enough damage to his precious ship, he will retreat with his exhaust port tucked between his leg servos."

Slipstream thought for a second, "General. Starscream doesn't yet know that we have alt-forms."

Scorponok looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Your point, Commander?"

"Well... we could lure him into a false sense of security." She suggested. "We could go out, pretend to hear what that fool has to say, and then strike when he's least expecting it."

Scorponok pondered her suggestion for a few seconds before responding. "Yes. Excellent idea, Commander. It seems you are good for something." Slipstream bristled slightly at that insult. "Very well. Once we land, we'll exit through the cargo hold. Starscream won't know what hit him."

…

"Report." Starscream ordered from his position on the Nemesis' bridge.

The Darksyde is heavily damaged, Lord Starscream." the drone operating the tractor-beam, answered.

"Life signs?" Starscream asked next.

The drone stationed at the sensor grid responded. "I'm reading three energy signatures."

Starscream tapped his chin. "Only three? How very odd."

The tractor-beam drone looked over at Starscream. "My Lord?"

Starscream scowled at the drone. "Shut-up and get back to work." the drone returned his attention back to his station. Starscream activated his communicator. "Knock Out. Breakdown. Report to the main hanger with a detachment of ground drones."

"Yes, Lord Starscream." Knock Out answered. "Will you be joining us?"

"Just do as your told, Doctor. Never mind what I am doing." Starscream snapped, and then shut off his comm-unit.

_Ping._

Starscream turned around at the noise. "Yes, Soundwave, what is it? I have work to do."

_Ping._

"And why do you wish to come as well?" Starscream demanded.

_Ping._

"Do you take me for a fool?" Starscream asked impatiently. "I am well aware that it might be a trap. Hence the reason for Knock Out and Breakdown."

"_Will you be joining us?" _

"Yes." Starscream answered, as he pushed past Soundwave. "I will. But you will not." He entered the elevator to the main hanger. "Remain on the bridge and await further orders."

Seconds later, Starscream exited the elevator. Standing before him, were Knock Out, holding his staff, Breakdown was just standing around, and 12 drones were accompanying them.

"As you are aware," Starscream began, as he walked towards the group. "We have recovered the Darksyde." He stopped walking and opened the hanger door.

"The Darksyde? Really." Knock Out hmm'd. "I wonder what brings it to Earth?"

"It does not matter." Starscream answered. "I will offer the Darksydes' crew one chance to join me. If they refuse, I want them destroyed. Is that clear?"

"Who's on board?" Breakdown grumbled.

"Grr. It does not matter!" Starscream shouted, his anger getting the best of him. "We have them out-numbered, and that's all! Now shut-up all of you and follow me!"

Starscream jumped out of the hanger, but didn't transform. He fell a hundred feet, and landed on the ground in front of the Darksyde. Knock Out and Breakdown landed next, followed by the twelve drones.

Knock Out looked up at the infamous warship and whistled. She was as large as the Nemesis, but she sire looked intimidating. "Impressive ship."

"Yeah." Breakdown agreed. "But I thought it was supposed to be tough. How'd the Nemesis shoot it down?"

"Oh, Breakdown..." Knock Out shook his head. "The fusion cannon on the Nemesis was specifically designed by Megatron to shoot down any ship in existence." he pointed to the Darksyde. "A little ship like this wouldn't stand a chance."

Just as Knock Out finished talking, the hanger door of the Darksyde opened. Starscream puffed out his chest and folded his hands behind his back. With his gaze locked on the descending door, he said, "Let me do the talking."

Once the ramp had stopped, the impressive bulk of Scorponok walked out of the ship. Slipstream flanked him to the right, and Ravage flanked his left.

Starscream gulped nervously, but otherwise kept his features neutral.

"Starscream." Scorponok boomed as he, and the others, came to stop some ten feet in front of the decepticon leader. "What are you doing here? Where's Megatron?"

Starscream squared his shoulders. "It is Lord Starscream, Scorponok. And as for Megatron? He is currently in stasis lock in the Nemesis' med-bay."

Slipstream laughed bitterly. "Lord? Don't make me laugh, Starscream. A rock is more capable of the leading the decepticons than you are."

"Slipstream?" Starscream asked, as he eyed her frame. "Ah, yes. How good it is to see you again. Are you enjoying your existence as my failed clone? Hmm?"

Ravage hunched his shoulders, and let out a low growl. Starscream looked over at the Cybertronian panther and let a small smile come to his face.

"And Ravage," Starscream sneered. "Still alive? You always were such a loyal lap-dog to anyone who helped you." He looked up at Scorponok. "What did you do, Scorponok? Go around fixing and collecting the worse possible warriors you could find?"

"Ouch..." Knock Out whispered.

Scorponok looked down at Starscream. "What do you want, pest? Other than to stand around and insult my troops?"

Starscream balled his right fist, and brought up to his face. "I want you to join me, Scorponok. Swear your loyalty, and recognize me as your lord, and together, we shall destroy the autobots once and for all."

"You? Destroy the Autobots?" Slipstream laughed. "As if you could. You couldn't even destroy an Earth fly if it landed on you."

Starscream sent a scowl in her direction. "I was not speaking to you, Clone." He looked back at Scorponok. "What do you say?"

Scorponok lowered himself, so that he was eye level with Starscream. "I already swore to Megatron that I would never again be a Decepticon." He grabbed Starscream with both his hands and stood up straight. "What makes you think that I would ever bow to a simpleton like you?"

"Unhand me at once!" Starscream demanded, as he struggled against the titan's iron grip. "I said let me go! Now!"

Scorponok shrugged. "As you wish, "lord" Starscream." Still holding the struggling 'con, he pulled back his right arm, and threw Starscream at the Nemesis. With a great thud, Starscream hit the hull of the ship, and fell to the ground, some 50 feet away. The impact was so great, it made a shallow crater. Scorponok looked down at Slipstream, and with an evil smile he said, "Attack."

Ravage transformed into a black Tramontana 'R' edition. He revved his engine, and took off, circling the confused group of decepticons. He used his back tires to kick up the dirt, and created a dust screen. Slipstream jumped up, and quickly transformed into a F-35 stealth-fighter. She flew up, pulled a u-turn, and began firing strafing shots. She managed to hit 3 clones before the scattered.

"Fight or flee?" Breakdown asked Knock Out as the two cowered behind an out-cropping of rocks.

Knock Out peeked around the side of the rock. Scorponok was just standing there, watching as Slipstream and Ravage made short work of the drones.

"Well, Slipstream could probably shoot us if we try to run. Ravage's new form looks faster than mine, so he could easily out-run us." Knock Out answered. "I say fight, but let's call for back-up." He turned on his comm-unit. "All, and I mean all, sky units launch and attack enemy units. Now."

Thirty-six jet drones launched from both the top and bottom hanger of the Nemesis. Twelve of them went after Slipstream, twelve of them began strafing Ravage, and the other twelve angled towards Scorponok.

"Fools." Scorponok grumbled. He then transformed into a double barreled, Mk.3 Mammoth tank. He aimed both of his 150 mm rail guns at the incoming fighters, and began firing. Laughing as he did so.

Knock Out and Breakdown stared in awe, and stunned silence, as all thirty-six jet drones where made short work of.

"Okay. Now what?" Breakdown asked Knock Out, as Slipstream and Ravage returned to Scorponok. The three returned to their robot modes. Ravage now had wheels on his shoulders, but still looked like a large panther. Slipstream, somehow, looked like a female version of Starscream, yet was more masculine looking. Scorponok looked more menacing then ever with treads on the back of his legs, and both of his cannons were mounted on this shoulders, facing forward.

"Uh..." is all Knock Out could say, as he and Breakdown observed the group. Scorponok heard him, and looked in their direction. He beckoned at the two with a finger. The two decepticons, knowing they had no choice, left their hiding spot, and nervously made their way over to the giant.

"You two. I am letting you go." Scorponok said, somewhat calmly. "Take your pathetic "leader" back to the Nemesis, and leave this place." He crossed his arms, and continued. "This island belongs to me now. If Starscream, or any of you, return, I will not be so kind next time. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, General." Breakdown and Knock Out answered sounding nervous, and yet relieved at the same time.

"Excellent." The giant said. He, Ravage, and Slipstream turned towards the Darksyde and began to walk away.

"You know, General," Knock Out said suddenly. Scorponok stopped, and turned around. He waved Slipstream and Ravage to keep walking. "I am a fabulous doctor, and Breakdown is a capable warrior. What say, we join you, and lend you some help?"

Scorponok narrowed his eyes, and began to charge his cannons. Knock Out and Breakdown got the hint and ran towards Starscream, and the Nemesis, as fast as they could. "Pathetic." he spat, as he continued his trip to the Darksyde, and made his way inside. Little did he, or any of them, know, that during the fight, someone had snuck on-board.

An eight-legged, stealthy, someone...

TBC.


	4. Last Hope

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Last Hope

"Ugh," Grunted one very sore, and confused, Bulkhead. He opened his optics, and sat up. "Where am I? And where are the others?"

He looked around, but he couldn't really tell where he was. All he saw were scorched plants. Trees long dead, and burnt. Almost as though there had been a massive fire. He looked up at the sky to see if he could get his bearings by using the stars. No luck, considering that there were massive dark clouds blocking them.

"That's strange." Bulkhead grumbled, as he observed the ominous cloud coverage. They looked like storm clouds, and there was plenty of thunder and ceiling lightening erupting from them. But, there was no rain falling from them. And, with a closer look at the surrounding land, he noticed that it was parched. Almost as if it hadn't rained for decades.

"I'd better call the others," The green giant groaned, as he stood up. He activated his communicator. "Bulkhead to Ratchet. Come in." Nothing but static came through. "Bulkhead to Bee. You there squirt?" Again, no reply came.

"Huh. Better try the bunker. I just hope I'm in range. And that it still exists." He reasoned, trying not to lose hope. "Bulkhead to base. Come in." No reply came back. "Silverbolt? Arcee? Prime? Any autobot getting this?" Static and white noise was the only response he received.

"Okay. No problem." Bulkhead sighed. "The, uh, communications array musta been smashed when the Ark hit the bunker. No worries." He started walking, in hopes to find some clue as to where he was. And hopefully, he would come across Ratchet or Bumblebee. Or both. "This would go faster if I went to ground." He reasoned. He tried to transform, but nothing happened.

"What the?" He asked himself, now very concerned. He tried to transform again, and this time his joints sparked, and he dropped to a knee as incredible pain racked his servos.

"I wouldn't try that again, if I were you." The friendly, yet gruff voice of Ratchet suddenly said. Bulkhead open his optics, and looked towards his friend.

"What happened to me, Doc? Why can't I change?" Bulkhead asked as he stood up again.

"I don't know exactly," Ratchet answered. "All I do know is that we can't transform. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the our MCM's, or our Mode Conversion Modules, have been damaged somehow."

"Oh." Bulkhead said simply, then asked "Can you fix 'em?"

Ratchet shook his head, and let out an audible sigh. "Not in the field. If I'm correct, and I hope I'm not, judging by the symptoms you and I are displaying, I would say that the MCM's are blown out. And if they are, well, they need to be replaced."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Bulked sighed. He then asked "Is your GPS working? Do you know where we are?"

The medic looked at the green bot with skepticism clearly displayed in his optics. "Your GPS system is damaged as well?"

"Uh, yeah." Bulkhead answered.

"I had better scan you then," Ratchet sighed irritably. He activated his diagnostic tool and waved and scanned Bulkhead slowly from head to to foot servo. "Hmm..." he said, when he was finished. "As I feared. Your MCM is burnt out. Which means, you can't access any of your weapons either. Your GPS unit is also burnt out. Were you hit with an EMP blast?"

Bulkhead shrugged. "I dunno. Last thing I remember is rushing through the ground-bridge. And then waking up here. What about you, Doc?"

Ratchet thought for a second before answering. "Pretty much the same thing. Except, I walked about a mile before I found you. I also tried to transform, but nothing happened."

"Do you know where we are?" Bulkhead asked, trying to keep a cool head. "And have you seen any sign of Bee?"

Ratchet sighed. "No to both of your questions, Bulkhead. But let me try my GPS. It might just work." He paused as he brought his arm up and activated his map. To his luck, it worked. "Excellent. Now..." he pressed some buttons, and the 3D display popped up. "Strange..."

"Uh, what's up, Doc?" Bulkhead asked.

"Well, according to this, we're in Jasper, Nevada." The medical bot answered, still looking at his map.

"That would make sense." the gentle giant shrugged. "Prime probably didn't want to send us too far, right?"

"One would assume that, yes," Ratchet agreed. He then pointed to the sky. "But have you ever seen this type of weather system before?"

Bulkhead looked up. "Nope."

"And not only that, but according to my map, you and I are standing in the middle of town." Ratchet explained. This got Bulkhead's attention.

"Say, what?" the titan asked. He looked around again. Upon closer inspection, he noticed burnt buildings, as well as the burnt out remains of vehicles. No bodies, though. That was a good sign. He looked at Ratchet, "You don't think..."

"That the Ark did all this?" Ratchet finished his question. "Not a chance. No. This amount of damage could only be intentional."

"I doubt the 'Cons could do all this." Bulkhead reasoned, as he gestured to the area around them. "Silverbolt and Arcee woulda stopped them. Or, at least woulda held 'em off until the human army showed up."

"I agree." Ratchet said, as he shut down his GPS. "But the only way to know for sure is head back to base." He paused for a second, and then added, "If it's still there."

"Right," Bulkhead agreed.

The two 'bots made their way towards the Autobot bunker (hoping) that it still existed. As they walked silently through town, the noticed more and more burnt out buildings, but no humans or even human remains. Something they were both grateful for, and yet disturbed them at the same time.

"I wonder where are all the Fleshies are?" Bulkhead asked suddenly, as he and Ratchet exited town, and continued there path on the main road that lead to the bunker.

Ratchet shook his head. "I haven't the slightness clue, Bulkhead." He let out a heavy sigh. "All of this just doesn't make sense. I mean, the town looks as if it was hit with a nuclear bomb, but there isn't any fallout. It's as if all the humans just disappeared."

"I hope Miko and Raf are all right." Bulkhead mumbled looking a little crestfallen. "I couldn't live with myself if something happened to them, cuz of knowing us..." Ratchet nodded his head, but remained silent as they continued down the road.

After what seemed like forever, the two 'bots spotted the mountain that housed the autobot base. Or, what remained of the mountain that used to house the autobot base. They exchanged a worried glance, and ran the remaining distance. What they saw disturbed them greatly.

""What happened here?" Bulkhead asked as he and Ratchet came to a stop.

"It looks like the Ark crash landed and took out half the mountain." Ratchet observed. "And either my optics are malfunctioning, or it looks like it's been here for a least 10 years."

"But, we've only been gone a few hours." Bulkhead stated. He examined the ship, and noticed all the pot marks. Some looked old, like Ratchet had mentioned, and some looked fresh, as if they were just made. "Hey, Doc. Look at the ground."

Ratchet looked at his feet. Much like the Ark, it too, was covered in pot-marks. And not only that, but bits and pieces of metal. Curious, he picked up a piece near his foot, and scanned it with his medical tool.

"What'cha got there, Doc?" Bulkhead asked out of curiosity.

Ratchet finished scanning the piece, and threw quickly threw it away with a disgusted grunt. "Ugh. It was a finger. And it was leaking dark energon."

"What?" Bulkhead asked, looking worried. "Dark energon? But how?"

Ratchet looked frustrated, and sounded frustrated as well. "I don't know how. This is all very confusing. And without help, I'm afraid we won't be able to figure it out by ourselves."

Suddenly, with what sounded like much difficulty, the ramp of the Ark lowered and Bulkhead and Ratchet were bathed in bright light. It hit the ground with a heavy thud, and a lone figure limped down it, and towards them.

It was Silverbolt. Or rather, a much older, scarred, battle worn Silverbolt.

"Silverbolt!" Bulkhead exclaimed happily. He moved to give his young friend a hug, but was stopped when the young bot held up his hand.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Bulkhead." Silverbolt stated. His voice sounded much older, and bitter. It's youthful edge was gone. Replaced with coldness, and forced maturity.

"Silverbolt." Ratchet said, sounding hesitant. "Why is your right optic covered with a metal plate? And why is your chest plating covered in gashes and scars?"

The silver warrior looked at Ratchet for a second, before answering. "Not here. Not safe. Come inside. I'll explain there." He turned around, and limped back inside. Ratchet and Bulkhead quickly followed.

Once the three of them were in the Ark, and the ramp was up, Silverbolt stopped walking and turned around. "So. Ask your questions."

"What happened here, Silverbolt?" Bulkhead asked first. "It looks like you've been to the Void and back."

"There are days when it feels like I have." Silverbolt said bitterly. "And there are days when I wish that the Void would take me." He closed his eye, and ran a hand over his helmeted head. He sighed heavily, and continued. "What happened here? Well, a lot of things. I guess it all started when you and Ratchet disappeared 10 years ago."

"What?" Ratchet exclaimed. "10 years? Bulkhead and I have only been gone a few hours at most."

Silverbolt frowned at the Med bot. "From your perspective. But you have, in fact, been gone 10 years."

"Okay. Say we have been gone that long." Bulkhead said, sounding doubtful. "Why did Ratchet and Me take so long to reactivate? And why'd you guys never come and find us?"

Silverbolt scowled at the taller robot. "We did. We looked everywhere. We couldn't find you." He crossed his arms. "It's as if you guys just vanished."

Something dawned on Ratchet. "No. We didn't vanish. We, that is Bulkhead and I, were transported through time."

"What?" Bulkhead asked sounding confused. "How'd we do that?"

"Well." Ratchet began, rubbing his chin in thought. "The ground-bridge works by sending objects through time and space. I suppose by some glitch, or feed back loop, we were transported to the future. How, I haven't the slightest idea."

"But, why didn't Bumblebee get transported with us?" Bulkhead asked. "What happened to him?"

Silverbolt laughed bitterly. "You want to know what happened to Bumblebee? Or the others? I'll show you."

He lead Bulkhead and Ratchet down the hall, and to a turbo-lift. A short ride up, and the three of them stepped out in the main bridge of the Ark.

"This way." Silverbolt waved with his hand. They walked by the command chair and towards an open door located at the head of the ship. "Watch your step." he said, as they made there way down a slight slope of dirt and rocks, and into the former Ops Center. "Recognize where we are?"

"Yeah." Bulkhead said, as he looked around. "This was Ops. 10 years, and you guys never got around to fixing it?"

"I was wondering that myself." Ratchet said with a note of irritation in his voice.

"We were a little busy." Silverbolt sneered. "But I'll let the others explain." He continued walking towards what they both knew was the med-bay.

Ratchet and Bulkhead gasped. Bumblebee was cut in half at the waist, and was floating in a repaired CR tank. The remains of Blaster and Sentinel Prime, both with a massive whole through their chests, were laying on the ground, just to the right of the tank. Arcee, Spotter, Optimus, Raf and Miko were nowhere to be seen.

"Is that Sentinel Prime and Blaster?" Bulkhead asked with a shocked tone. "What are they doing here?"

"They were on the Ark," Silverbolt explained. "Along with Arcee's sister, Spotter."

"What happened here, Silverbolt?" Ratchet asked as he walked over to Bee's tank. "Where are the others?"

The young bot answered. "Bee, somehow, wasn't transported with you guys. He made it back just in time for the 'Cons to trace the Ark here, and attack in full force. Sentinel, Optimus, Blaster and him held them off for a while, but then, Scorponok and his crew showed up. A 'con called Slipstream sliced Bee in half, and Scorponok blew a whole through Sentinel and Blaster. Then, out of nowhere, Megatron showed up, and took out Optimus."

"Megatron, and Scorpinok?" Bulkhead asked in disbelief.

"The Combaticons arrived on Earth?" Ratchet asked in shock, turning away from Bumblebee. "When?"

"Along with the Ark" Silverbolt shrugged. "The Darksyde shot it down."

"What happened after Megatron showed up?" Ratchet asked with concern heavy in his voice.

Silverbolt nodded his head. "Well, Spotter, and Arcee, even though they were ordered to retreat with Miko, Raf, Mom and myself, went back to help. They didn't last long."

"So what happened to Prime, Arcee and Spotter?" Bulkhead asked as he looked for their bodies. "I don't see them anywhere."

"I'll take it from here, Bolt." An older sounding, familiar voice said suddenly. Ratchet and Bulkhead looked towards the entrance of the Med-bay and saw a 22 year old Raf, and a 25 year old Miko walking towards them. They were both taller (Raf was actually a foot taller than Miko), and their clothing was torn and dirty. Their hair was longer (Raf's was tied in a pony-tail, and Miko's hung loose). They both looked older than they were, and very stressed. The walked up to the three autobot's and stopped.

"Raf? Miko?" Bulkhead asked in a shocked tone. "That you?"

"A bit older now, Bulk." Miko quipped with a dry tone. Her voice had lost it's sarcastic edge. "It happens after a few years have passed."

"I'm sorry, Scrub." Bulkhead apologized as he took a knee, and held out his hand towards her. "I wish I coulda been there for ya." He looked over at Raf. "You too, Kid."

Miko's eyes welled with tears. She ran over to Bulkhead's hand and hugged it tight.

"I thought you guys were dead." She sobbed.

"Nope." Bulkhead quipped, trying to sooth her. "Just a little accident with the bridge. But were back now."

Feeling awkward, Ratchet asked suddenly, looking at Raf "So what happened to Optimus?"

"Prime was taken as a trophy by Megatron, once He and the cons' made short work of Scorponok." Raf explained. "Silverbolt went back after the Cons had left, and recovered Arcee and Spotter. Or rather, Spotter's legs and Arcee's torso. We couldn't fix Bee, nor Sentinel and Blaster."

Ratchet looked over shoulder towards Silverbolt. "How bad was the damage to Arcee and Spotter?"

"I managed to put Spotter's legs on Arcee." Silverbolt explained. "But, Spotter's other... half, was blown to pieces. And Arcee's spark chamber was fractured. which caused her Spark to become unstable. I didn't want to risk turning her back on until I knew for sure it wouldn't rupture."

Ratchet looked impressed. "I'll take a look at her as soon as I can." He turned away from Raf and looked at Silverbolt directly. "But I want to take a look at you first. What happened to you?"

"MECH happened to him." Miko spat, now sitting on Bulkhead's shoulder. "And the whole fraggin' planet. The sky, Jasper, everything. It was all MECH." She slammed her fist into a her other hand. "They, somehow, formed an alliance with Megatron, and developed a virus that knocked out all communications. That's why you guys can't transform, and that's why your communicators don't work. So, we went into hiding. With us out of the way, MECH and the decepticons enslaved human-kind."

Bulkhead let out a low whistle, then asked, "What the sky?"

"Megatron did that." Raf answered. "We don't know how exactly, but we do know it covers the globe."

"Frag..." Bulkhead whispered, then asked. "How have you guys lasted so long?"

"I assume you've been eating those Military rations that were left over in the base?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah. Kinda gross, but yeah." Miko answered.

"Yeah, well. Whatever." Silverbolt scoffed. Everyone looked at him, "It's done. Nothing can change what happened. The cons have won the war and there's nothing we can do about it."

"You've giving up?" Ratchet asked. He walked over to Silverbolt and began scanning him. "That doesn't sound like the Silverbolt I know." He finished scanning the damaged warrior. "Hm. Your optic is to far damaged. It will have to be replaced. But your leg and scar can be easily fixed with a CR bath. Why haven't you taken one?"

Silverbolt shook his head. "Because Bumblebee is in the only working tank. It's the only thing keeping him active." He looked away. "And it's not like We had a choice in giving up, Ratchet. It's us against an army of drones, zombies, and Megatron. What were we supposed to do?"

"Kid's got a pint there, Doc." Bulkhead agreed, as he walked over to them. "He can't even transform."

"I didn't say that he should go out and fight." Ratchet defended himself. "All I said was that he shouldn't give up hope."

"What do you mean, We shouldn't give up hope?" Miko said angrily. "We've been by ourselfs for 9 and a half years, Ratche! We've watched all our friends die, and stood by helplessly as Megatron either killed or conquered the entire human population. Optimus is gone, and so is the Matrix. Arcee is damaged, and Bumblebee might as well be gone for good. We thought you and Bulkhead were both dead, and all of a sudden, you just show up and start demanding answers. What hope should I have left, huh? You tell me!"

"Miko..." Bulkhead said in a soothing tone. "Easy, Scrub." Miko took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"I'm sorry." Ratchet sighed. "I keep forgetting how much you've been through. How much time has actually passed." He paused for a second as he and Buklhead exchanged a look of concern. "But now that we're here, maybe things can start to improve."

"How's that?" Raf asked crossing his arms and looking doubtful.

Silverbolt looked at the two veteran bots. "I don't see how. Not unless you two can go back in time and warn all of us."

By the All-Spark..." Ratchet said suddenly. "That's it! If I can, somehow, fix the ground-bridge, and replicate and reverse the results that sent us forward in time, in theory, I could send us back!"

"But how?"Mikoasked, looking confused. "The bridge is gone."

Ratchet had that crazed look in his eye. The same look he had when he was "improving" the kids science projects. "The bridge may be gone, but, if it hasn't been used since then, the coordinates, and information, that Optimus used to bridge us out, should still be active. We just have to retrieve them."

"Sounds like a plan." Raf said, sounding hopeful. "Bulkhead, Miko, Silverbolt and I can get that information. But Ratchet, you have to work on a cure for the virus. We don't want to send it back with to the past."

Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought. "Right. I'll repair Arcee, and Bumblebee in the meanwhile. With their help, I can, most likely, find a cure more quickly."

"Awesome." Bulkhead said, punching his fists together. "Let's get to it."

TBC.

_A/N: Yes. I changed things a little bit. But, I think it's a better, no? Let me know, Ktnxbai._


	5. Last hope, Part 2

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Last Hope, Part II

With a soft groan, Arcee opened her optics. She immediately felt pain radiating from her chest plate and leg servos, and closed her optics in a vain attempt to block it out. It didn't help.

"Ah." She groaned, "Scrap. It feels like I was hit by meteor."

"That's not surprising, all things considered." She heard someone say from her right. She opened her optics again, and this time, she saw Ratchet standing above her.

"How are you feeling, Commander?" The medical officer asked, with a genuine look of worry on his face plate. "Aside from the obvious pain."

"Stiff." Arcee answered, as she sat up with Ratchet's help. "I thought you were gone for good. When did you get back? And where have you been?"

Ratchet was silent for a moment. "That's a long story, Commander. I'm not sure you're ready to hear the details quite yet."

"Ratchet." Arcee said, with slight irritation, "I didn't survive the great war just by sitting on the sidelines. I saw horrible things, and heard horrible stories. Believe me, I can handle anything you have to say."

"_Really._" Ratchet huffed. "Fine. Bulkehead and I returned recently. Three days ago, in fact."

"I've been out for that long?" Arcee asked. "Why didn't someone activate me sooner?"

Ratchet shook his head. "You haven't been deactivated for three days, Arcee-"

"-but you said-" She began to interrupt, but he silenced her with a raised hand.

"-it has, in fact, been ten years."

Arcee fell silent with shock. Ratchet continued.

"Somehow, Bulkhead and I were transported through time, via the ground-bridge. We're still trying to determine how exactly."

"I afraid to ask... but, what's happened since I've been out?" Arcee asked hesitantly.

"Too much, I'm afraid." Ratchet sighed, as he pointed to the prone forms of Blaster and Sentinel. "They were the first to fall."

Arcee gasped. "How?"

"Scorpinok." Ratchet answered simply.

"And the others?" Arcee asked, sounding hopeful, "You said that Sentinel and Blaster were the first."

"Optimus fell to the combined onslaught of both Scorpinok and Megatron." Ratchet continued with a grumble. "And, according to Silverbolt, his body was taken as a trophy."

"What about Bee?"

"I managed to reattach his severed leg servos to his torso." Ratchet explained. "It wasn't easy. And he's walking with a slight limp."

"And... Spotter? Did she make it?" Arcee asked, now extremely worried.

"I'm sorry, Commander..." Ratchet sighed, pointing at Arcee's legs. "If it helps, she was brave right to the end."

Arcee looked down at her servos. She noticed right away that they were Spotter's. "You couldn't save her?" she asked without taking her eye's away from her legs.

"There wasn't anything left." Ratchet said. "Silverbolt managed to recover you're torso, and Spotter's legs. He attached them to you, in hopes to repair you. Unfortunately, your spark chamber was ruptured, and your spark was destabilized."

"You keep mentioning Silverbolt in the past tense, Ratchet." Arcee stated, sounding scared, "Is he...?"

"No." Ratchet said, answering her unasked question. "He's still alive. Although, he isn't as you remember him."

"What do you mean?" Arcee asked, "How has he changed?"

"I've gotten older." Silverbolt answered as he limped into the med-bay. He made his way to the left side of Arcee, and then looked at Ratchet. "Could you give us a minute, Doc?"

"Fine. Commander, when you're ready, join me in Ops." The med-bot said as he walked out of the medical bay.

Arcee didn't say, or do, anything for a moment, as she looked Silverbolt over. Her optics noticed the deep gouges on his chest, and as she looked at his face, she noticed that his own optics which were once both blue, were now blue and purple.

"You look terrible." Arcee commented with a slight smirk.

"Ten years will tend do that." Silverbolt shrugged.

"Has it really been that long?" She asked, hoping Ratchet's information was faulty. Hoping she hadn't really missed that much of Silverbolt's life.

Silverbolt nodded his head somberly. "Yeah. I'm afraid it has been." He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I couldn't fix-"

She stood up and embraced him in a hug, resting the side of her head against his chest. "It's okay, Hot-Shot."

Silverbolt returned the hug. "I've missed you, Arcee. Ten years is a long time to be by yourself."

Arcee pulled back from the hug and sat back down. "What about Raf and Miko? Don't tell me..."

Silverbolt sat down beside her, and locked optics with her. "No. They're both alive. But that isn't what I meant. Thinking that I'll never speak with you again, knowing that you were here, but not really, that was one of the toughest things I had to go through."

"Oh." Is all Arcee said, then asked "One of the toughest things?"

Silverbolt averted his gaze, and stared straight ahead. "Well, not knowing if Mom is either dead, or a slave to Megatron, kinda ranks pretty high."

Arcee used her left hand to gently turn his face back towards hers. She didn't drop it, however, and kept it on his cheek. "I'm sorry, Bolt."

"Don't be. It was your fault." He said, taking her hand in his and holding it in his lap.

"Yes it was." Arcee defended. "If Spotter and I had obeyed Optimus and didn't go back to fight, I could have been there for you."

Silverbolt shook his head. "Should have, would have, could have. It doesn't matter now. Like Optimus said; "Sometimes, even the wisest of men and machines can be in error."

Arcee smiled. "Yeah. I guess you're right." Her face then grew serious. "What exactly happened while I was out? Ratchet never mentioned anything."

"Well, MECH, somehow, joined forces with the Decepticons. After they took out Sentinel, Blaster, and Optimus, they released an air-born virus that knocked out all communications on Earth. As a side-effect, the virus prevents all Cybertronian's, well autobots anyways, from transforming. Also, when they released it, the sky was blotted out with unending, black clouds." Silverbolt explained.

Arcee was speechless.

"Anyways.' Silverbolt continued, "Ratchet and Raf are working on a cure. While Bulkhead, Miko, Bumblebee, and I are working on a way to send Ratchet and Bulkhead back to warn everyone."

"How?" Arcee asked, managing to find her voice again.

Silverbolt stood-up. "We're trying to retrieve the information from the last time the land-bridge was used. That, and Bulkhead is actually trying to re-build it. Come on," he gestured with with hand, "I'll show you."

Arcee stood-up herself, and together, the two bots made their way to Ops. Just as Silverbolt had said, Ratchet and Raf were working diligently away on the main computer, while Bee and Miko were working at the Ground-bridges controls. Bulkhead was rummaging through some scrap, which Arcee barely recognized as the gate.

Everyone stopped their work, and looked up at the sound of Arcee's and Silverbolt's footsteps.

"Hey, Arcee." Raf said first. "It's nice to see you again."

"Raf?" Arcee asked in surprise. "Wow. You're a lot taller."

"Yeah. Hard to believe the Scrub is even taller than me." Miko smirked. "Hey Arcee. How ya feeling?"

"Better." Arcee greeted the older girl. "I'm glad your safe."

Bumblebee let out a welcoming blurb, and then a long stream of beeps.

"Hiya Bee." Arcee greeted the Scout. "And yes, of course I knew Silverbolt wouldn't let anything happen to them."

"Commander, over here please." Ratchet so kindly demanded, without looking away from his screen. "Raf and I could use your help."

"Be right there," Arcee said with a shake of her head. She looked up a t Silverbolt. "Duty calls."

"That's okay," Silverbolt said "I'll go help Bulkhead with the gate."

Arcee made her way over Ratchet and Raf. The Medical Officer had his arms crossed and was staring intently at the middle monitor. Raf was standing the same way from his position on the raised platform to Ratchet's right.

"So, what do we have here?" Arcee asked as she came to a stop beside Ratchet. She looked at the data displayed on the monitors. A complex series of binary code was running across all three screens. "That looks complicated."

"Humph." Ratchet huffed. "To say the least."

"What is it?" Arcee asked, looking at Raf.

"It's the language code that the virus is communicating in." Raf explained, looking at Arcee. "We're trying to isolate a pattern, but it's extremely difficult." He gestured towards the screen, and Arcee turned her attention to them. "Each time we manage to, the language changes. It's almost as if-"

"-It's self aware." Arcee finished the sentence for him. "Almost like an artificial intelligence." She narrowed her optics. "These samples, who are they from?"

"Silverbolt, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead." Ratchet answered. "Why?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but it looks like the language of the samples from Bee and Bulk, are different from the the language from the sample from Bolt." Arcee explained. She keyed a few commands and all three screens paused. "There." she pointed at the screen "The last line. Bee's and Bulk's say: 01110111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01100011 01101000, right?"

"Right." Ratchet and Raf agreed at the same time.

"But Silverbolt's is different." She pointed at his screen. "01110111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101111 01101110 01100101 00101110."

"Hmm." Ratchet said, as he brought his hand to his chin. "You're right. And it's the only line that isn't gibberish, either."

"We are one?" Raf spoke. Arcee and Ratchet looked at him in surprise. "What? That's what the code from Silverbolt says."

"Wait a second." Ratchet said, as he typed a few commands into the computer. "We've been looking at this all wrong. "This isn't a simply a computer virus. This is an actual physical virus." He brought up a magnified view of Silverbolt's energon sample at x1000. He then clicked a few keys until the magnification read x1000000. "Look familiar?"

"Yeah. It does." Raf breathed out. "Those are the nanobots that changed Jack into Silverbolt. But, they've been heavily modified."

"Scrap." Arcee grumbled, then added sarcastically, "Well, at least we know what happened to the remainder of Blackarachnia's supply."

"Modified, or not," Ratchet said, "The sample that infected Silverbolt, recognizes the nanobots that he used to be able to command."

"But they died, didn't they?" Raf asked.

"In a sense, yes." Ratchet answered, looking at the young man. "But this might help us find a cure."

"Hey!" Miko cried suddenly, startling the others. "Bee and Me managed to recover the data!"

Bulkhead, Raf, Silverbolt, Ratchet, and Arcee stopped what they were doing and made their way over to her and Bumblebee.

"Let me see that information." Ratchet demanded, though not unkindly. Bumblebee moved aside so that the med-bot could see the output screen. He studied it for a moment before saying anything. "This doesn't make any sense..."

"Uh, what's up, Doc?" Bulkhead asked, "What doesn't make sense?"

Ratchet turned around and addressed the crowed that standing in a semi-circle around him. "Well. At the point of activation of the ground-bridge, there two, almost identical, energy spikes. Almost as if two bridges were activated at the same time."

"Was it the cons bridge?" Arcee inquired.

"No. The energy out-puts are to similar to be an outside interference." Ratchet dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "And besides, there's only a split second time difference in between the spikes."

"Wait a second." Raf said suddenly, "Look at the second spike. It's an incoming loop. And there's a chronological differential too. See? The first spike's HEX code reads 32 30 31 31. While the second spike's HEX code reads; 32 30 32 31. That's a difference of ten years, give or take a few seconds."

"What are you saying, Raf?" Silverbolt asked, sounding confused, "That us sending Ratchet and Bulkhead back to the past, caused this whole mess in the first place?"

"Yes." Raf said simply, looking up at his friend.

Bumblebee let out a few beeps, and pointed at the read out of the second spike.

"I beg your pardon?" Ratchet asked, looking at the screen "What do you mean, biological?"

"Yeah! Look!" Miko said, noticing the HEX code. "Look; 62 69 6f 6c 6f 67 69 63 61 6c 20. That means a human went through the gate. Uh, right?"

"Scrap. Miko's right." Arcee said. "Ratchet. Is your scanner still working?"

"Yes. Of course." Ratchet responded with a furrowed "brow". "Why?"

"Scan the area of the bridge." Arcee said. "That might tell us who came through. Right?"

Ratchet shook his head, but walked over to the semi completed arch. He activated his arm scanner, and moved it over the pieces that Bulkhead and Silverbolt had managed to weld together. "Nothing here." He said after finishing the scan.

"Try that pile over there, Ratchet." Bulkhead suggested. "Might be something I missed."

Ratchet sighed audibly, and walked over to the pile that Bulkhead mentioned. As soon as he started to scan, the beam flashed red.

"By the All-Spark." The medical officer said in awe. "There's some human DNA infused with the arch. XX chromosome."

Everyone looked at Miko. Miko, in turn, looked at Ratchet.

"Why would I go back?" She asked, her voice full of confusion. "That... doesn't even make sense."

"Actually. It does." Raf explained. Now it was his turn to be the center of attention. "Initially, the two energy spikes where the same, but the second one dissipated rather quickly. To the point where the apex wasn't large enough for any autobot to go through. Logically, it would have been you to go, as I most likely have would stayed by the gate and help keep it open."

"Okay." Miko said shaking her head, trying to grasp the whole situation. "So, I went back, and what? Tried to stop you guys from going trough the gate? Warn you about the Ark? Give them the cure? What?"

"I don't know." Raf shrugged. "Any of those are possible. But we obviously miscalculated. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here." he pointed to Ratchet and Bulkhead in turn.

"Wait." Silverbolt spoke up. "Something always bothered me."

"What's that, Silverbolt?" Arcee asked, looking at him.

"Why did Ratchet and Bulkhead jump through time, and not Bee?" The scarred warrior asked.

"It's time-travel Silverbolt," Bulkhead reasoned, "Who can really explain it?"

"That's what I thought at first," Silverbolt argued back, "But could the answer really be that simple?"

"Huh?" Miko asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Silverbolt began, "Bear with me. What if it was us going back that caused everything? What if MECH, somehow, found the cure Miko was sent back with, and adapted it into the virus? What if Ratchet and Bulkhead weren't thrown through time, but instead were damaged and didn't reactivate until just a few days ago, and that's why Bee wasn't transported with them."

Bumblebee let out a low whistle.

"I agree with Bumblebee." Ratchet said. "If that's true, then why hasn't anything changed yet?"

Silverbolt looked at Bulkhead, and then at Ratchet. "It's time-travel, Doc. Who can really explain it?"

Ratchet let out a quick burst of laughter. Something that caught everyone by surprise. He quickly composed himself, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, say you're right, Silverbolt. We still have to send a message back somehow. Warn them about Megatron. And tell them where to find Bulkhead and myself."

"Okay, but who?" Raf asked. "And how do we prevent the two bridges from colliding?"

"We're gonna have to adjust the time by an hour." Miko suggested. "That should prevent any accidents. As for who goes back? Well, we'll decide when the time comes. It should be either me, or you Raf. That way, it'll be easier to convince Optimus it's not some kinda Decepticon trick."

"Good idea, Scrub." Bulkhead said, nodding his head. Miko beamed at him.

"Well. It seems we got work to do." Arcee said, adopting an official tone. "Autobots, move out. We got a tragedy to prevent."

TBC

_A/N: Oh time travel. Thou art a heartless bitch. You see, boys and girls? This is why you don't write about different time-lines. It messes with your head._


	6. Last hope, Part 3

_A/n: Well, I'm glad people are at least reading my stories. Some reviews would hurt though. Please? _

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Last Hope, Part III

The Autobots, along with their human companions, were hard at work. Silverbolt, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead were working hard on completing the damaged ground-bridge. Raf, Ratchet, Miko, and Arcee, meanwhile, were working on a cure to rid themselves of the virus in their time, and to prevent the virus from affecting the autobots in the past.

The bridge was coming along fine. The cure, not so much.

"No, no, no." Ratchet grumbled from his position in front of the three monitors . "Countering the viruses binary language with a feed-back loop won't work." He explained to Miko with an exasperated tone. "Every time we've tried introducing a new line of code into the primary program, the virus adapts."

Miko, who was standing beside Raf, on the raised platform to Ratchet's right, threw her hands up in frustration. "Then I'm out of ideas."

"Okay, guys, relax." Arcee said, standing to Ratchet's left, heading off the impending argument. "Let's just... take a step back, and look at this problem with a different angle."

"Take a step back?" Ratchet asked with a scowl. "Why would I do that, Arcee? I wouldn't be able to reach my command input board."

Raf face-palmed. "She didn't mean it in a literal sense, Ratchet. It's another idiom humans use. Basically, it means we should take a pause in our work."

"I'll never understand you humans and your expressions." The med-bot shook his head.

"Look." Miko huffed. "We know that the virus is highly adaptive, right?"

"Yes." Ratchet, Arcee, and Raf agreed.

"And no matter what language we use, be it binary, HEX, or whatever, the virus takes it, isolates it, and erases it, right?"

"Correct." Ratchet sighed.

"We've also determined that the virus is, in fact, reprogrammed nanobots that are from the same group that changed Jack into Silverbolt." Raf stated, matter of factually. "Based on the evidence that the two groups recognize each-other."

"Despite Silverbolt's nanobots being, for want of a better term, dead." Arcee added.

"Right." Miko nodded her head. "How did they die, anyways?"

"When 'Bolt and I were hit with an EMP blast." Arcee answered with slight frown.

"Well, can't we just, I dunno, use something similar against the virus?" Miko asked with a shrug "It should work, right?"

Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought. "In theory, perhaps. But an EMP blast large enough to wipe out the virus in us, and then, potentially, around the globe?" He shook his head, "The magnitude of such a blast would have to be enormous."

"That's if we detonate from the ground." Raf said. "If we release the weapon in the ionosphere, for example, the blast radius wouldn't have to be so big. Especially if we design it to have a cascading effect."

"Cascading effect?" Miko repeated, looking confused.

"He means, that if the wave was designed to arc from nanobot to nanobot,like ripples in a pool, we could use them to keep generating planar shock-waves." Arcee answered.

"Oh." Miko blushed. "Yeah. That makes sense."

"We still have to design the device itself." Ratchet said irritably. "And I don't know about you three, but I haven't the slightest idea on where we can find the parts to build it."

This comment was met without argument, as the group fell into thoughtful silence.

"Sorry to interrupt," Silverbolt said suddenly, walking over to the group. Everyone turned away from the monitors to look at him. "But, what if we used the Ark's main Drive Core as an EMP generator? It should be large enough, considering the fact it was used to move the Ark around."

"That's just crazy enough to work." Raf smiled, a look of dawning comprehension slowly coming to his face.

"I agree with the first three words of your sentence, Raf." Ratchet said, crossing his arms.

Arcee walked in front of Ratchet and placed her hands on her hips. "And what other choice do we have?"

The Medical Officer scoffed. "I admit, not many. But we can't just remove a ship's drive core. It's impossible."

By this time, Bulkhead and Bumblebee had walked over to see what all the commotion was about.

"What's going on?" Bulkhead asked curiously.

"We decided to use an EMP shock-wave in an attempt to wipe out the virus in yours guy's systems, and possibly the Earth." Miko explained. "Only problem is, the device would have to be set off in the Ionosphere."

Bumblebee beeped a question.

"Well, Silverbolt suggested using the drive core in the Ark." Raf answered his partner. "Which would be large enough to work."

"Except, you can't remove the drive core from a ship without a team of engineers." Bulkhead heaved a sigh. "Unless you want the thing to destabilize and cause an explosion equal to a trillion megatons."

"Well, that would solve the problem of the virus." Arcee laughed bitterly. "The only problem with that, is no one would be around afterward."

"Are Cybertronian drive cores really that powerful?" Raf asked in awe.

Bumblebee looked at him and nodded his head 'yes'.

"Yikes." Miko gasped, looking shocked.

"Wait a second." Raf snapped his fingers. "If the drive system of the Ark is that massive, we won't have to activate it in the Ionosphere. We could rig it to emit an EMP blast, and use the engines as out-put emitters."

Ratchet sighed heavily. "In theory, yes. But one wrong move, and no one on Earth will be around to say anything."

"I'd rather take the chance of trying, and possibly failing, than live in a world were Megatron rules all of Earth, Ratchet." Silverbolt said with a defiant tone.

"Ya know something, Silverbolt?" Bulkhead asked nudging the shorter bot with his elbow, "You're starting to sound a lot like Optimus."

Silverbolt blushed nervously, "Really?"

"Yep." The green giant said. "You never knew him for that long, but before he became a Prime, he was exactly like you. Guess that's why the Council chose him to succeed Sentinel."

"Anyways" Arcee said, addressing the group as a whole, trying to get everyone to focus. "Ratchet, Bumblebee, and I will rig the drive core." She paused and looked at Silverbolt and Bulkhead. "You guys, finish the bridge. Raf and Miko will help you run the lines from the energon tank. Let's go."

"Yes, Ma'am." Silverbolt winked at her.

Arcee narrowed her eyes, but let a small smile creep to her faceplate. "Watch it, Hot-shot."

…

"Silverbolt to Arcee. Come in Boss Lady." The silver bot called into his communicator.

"Watch it, Hot-shot." Arcee chided kindly. "What's the matter?"

"Well, you wanted a report as to when the land bridge was completed, right?" Silverbolt asked with a frown.

"That would be correct." Arcee answered.

"Well, the land bridge is complete." Silverbolt stated with a smirk. "We're good to go when you guys are."

"Roger." Arcee quipped. "We'll be done – _bzzzzzpt- crack –_ as soon as we're done. Gotta go." At that, she ended the conversation.

"Okay, explain this whole thing to me again, Raf." Miko demanded from her sitting position on Bulkhead's right shoulder.

Curious, Silverbolt asked, "What's going on now?"

Raf sighed from his sitting position on Bulkhead's left shoulder, who in turn was sitting down himself. "She wants me to explain why we're still planning on wiping out the virus now, when in theory it won't even exist should our plan to send someone back to the past work."

Silverbolt rubbed his replaced optic. "Okay then."

"As I told her, time is a funny thing." The young man continued. "See, a lot of people think time is a straight line, or string. Cut the string, and it stops. Retie it, and it simply continues as nothing had happened."

"Right." Miko shrugged.

"I sensing a "but", coming." Bulkhead said.

"You're right, Bulkhead." Raf said. "See, in reality, or rather theoretically, time is more like a river. It's constantly flowing, but, if you throw a rock in it, what happens? It causes ripples. Or, if the rock is big enough, it splits the river, and causes it to flow in to different directions."

"So, what you're saying is, even if we go back and change the past, there's a chance that the time-line will split, and create an alternate future, while this future might still exist." Silverbolt clarified.

"Ohh..." Miko said, her eyes going wide. "I get it."

"Yeah." Raf shrugged. "We have evidence that we've already attempted to alter the past, and it didn't work. Or maybe it did. See, according to the information from the ground-bridge, are first attempt to change the past was made two days ago."

"It was?" Bulkhead asked with a frown.

"Yes." Raf said simply. "But now that we have that information, we've changed our plans. And now, we're attempting to prevent the mistake, and also improving this future by taking out the virus permanently, and as a side result, the decepticons temporarily."

"This is confusing." Miko whined, grabbing her head dramatically.

"That's what time is, Miko." Raf chuckled. "Einstein, and many others spent the better part of their lives trying to figure it out."

"Well, that wasn't easy." Ratchet grumbled as he, Arcee, and Bumblebee exited the Ark.

"But it's set, right?" Silverbolt asked, as he turned to greet them.

Bumblebee beeped an affirmative tone, and gave two thumbs up.

"So, what's the plan?" Miko asked.

"As it stands, the plan is to send both you and Raf back to the past." Ratchet explained. "Once you two are through the bridge, we're going to trigger the EMP blast. With luck, the virus will be eliminated, and we autobots won't have to worry about defending you humans."

"Not that you guys are a liability," Arcee said hurriedly. "It's just, once Megatron realizes that we're all still alive, he's going to come at us full force."

"So, this is it?" Miko asked, as she hoped down from Buklhead, to the floor. Raf did the same. "Me and the Scrub are going back, and what? We'll never see you guys again?"

"Yes you will." Silverbolt said.

"I don't think that's what she means Bolt." Arcee explained. "She'll see us in the past, most likely, but those guys won't be us. That, and she and Raf will have to live with the knowledge that we may or may not be alive in this time."

"Wait, what?" Miko asked suddenly. "I wasn't sure, but this is going to be a one-way trip? No back to the future type thing?"

Ratchet answered with an irritated sigh. "Of course it will be a one way trip. We can't risk another accident, however slight, by attempting to bring you back."

"Huh." Raf said, his expression blank. "I guess you're right Ratchet."

Ratchet walked over to the land-bridge control panel. "Of course I am. Now, when you two arrive in the past, it is vital that you don't waste anytime. Optimus will be suspicious at first, but if you explain the situation to him using clear, concise facts, he'll believe you. Understand?"

Ratchet turned his body half way around to look at the two young humans. Raf and Miko looked at one another, nodded, and then looked at him.

"We understand." the said together.

"Then get ready." The med-bot ordered. He placed his hand on the activation switch, and waited for Raf and Miko to move in front of the gate.

"Good luck you two." Silverbolt said. "Thanks for keeping me company all this time."

"See ya, Jack." Miko winked at him.

"Thanks for keeping us safe." Raf said.

"Be careful." Bulkhead said next.

"It was nice talking to you guys again," Miko said sadly, keeping a smile on her lips.

Bumblebee beeped his agreement.

"Be safe, you guys." Arcee said with an almost motherly tone.

"You... too." Raf choked. He then grabbed Miko's hand and lead her to the gate. Oddly enough, she didn't let go.

Taking a deep breath Ratchet said, "May the Matrix guide you, and protect you on your journey." He then pulled the switch, and for the first time in ten years, the whoosh of the land-bridge was heard.

Without a second thought, Miko and Raf ran into the Apex, and disappeared.

"There goes our last hope." Silverbolt said, as Ratchet deactivated the bridge.

"I hope they make it." Arcee said hopefully.

"Yes, well." Ratchet said, clearing his throat. "I hope this EMP blast works."

Suddenly, the proximity sensors lit up. Bumblebee ran over to the main computer to see what it was. He looked over his shoulder and beeped a warning to the others.

"How many readings?" Bulkhead asked, making sure his audio receptors were working correctly.

Bumblebee repeated the number.

"A thousand dark energon signatures?" Arcee repeated, her optics going wide.

"By the All-Spark..." Ratchet said in awe.

"Ratchet." Silverbolt said, gaining the med-bot's attention. "I think NOW would be a good time to activate the bomb."

Ratchet brought his right arm up, and pushed the button to charge the device.

Deep within the Ark, it's drive core overloaded, and the last thing any of the autobots saw, was darkness.

TBC.


	7. Ominous Warnings

_A/N: So many questions. You need not worry, my pretty's. I never leave questions unanswered, or plot's unresolved. Granted, I may not always do so in the same story, but I always get around to it._

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Ominous Warnings

Optimus Prime walked slowly into the Ops Center, pausing briefly to observe the sight before him. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were playing a game of what he believed was called "Basket Ball". Arcee was hunched over, looking through some supply crates. Ratchet, as always, was at his station in front of the Autobot's main computer. He walked over and joined his old friend.

"Ratchet." The titan greeted, his voice level and calm.

"Optimus." Ratchet greeted in response, not removing his gaze from the screens.

"Anything to report?" Optimus asked, almost casually, looking at the monitors himself.

"Nothing of importance." Ratchet responded. "All sensors are quiet. There's a report of a meteor shower that's supposed to transpire within a standard Earth hour."

Optimus hmm'd. "And were are our young human friends?"

Ratchet sighed. "Silverbolt claimed that he needed to 'unwind' after today's events. I suggested a quick energon bath to help him recharge. To which his reply was simply a look that humans call 'incredulous' and I quote "Uh, no thanks, Doc. I'll just go up top and relax"." Ratchet shook his head. "Despite expressing that he wanted to remain alone, Miko and Raf followed him up."

"Which is where I'm about to go myself." Arcee announced suddenly. Ratchet and Optimus turned their torsos to look at her.

"And where do you think you are going, with my telescope?" Ratchet asked, indicating with chin to the said object that Arcee was holding.

Arcee quirked her eyebrow at him. "I'm going topside. Didn't I just say that?"

"With my telescope?" Ratchet asked again. "For what purpose?"

"Raf expressed interest in that meteor shower that you mentioned." Arcee shrugged. "I thought it would be fun for him to view it using this."

Ratchet turned fully towards her, and bristled with indignity. "That is not some toy, Commander. That is a tool that I spent months building and perfecting."

Arcee looked down at the scope in her arms, and then back at the disapproving Medical officer. "Well, that's what it's being used as. I'm taking an opportunity to learn more about this system's natural phenomenon. And, as to help me better understand said phenomenon, I'll be receiving the help of one this planets denizens, whom in turn, will be using said tool also."

Leaving both a speechless Ratchet AND Optimus behind, Arcee walked casually over to the Autobot sized elevator, and with a cheeky wink, pressed the "up" button.

"I have a feeling that the Commander's behavior is being heavily influenced by Miko." Ratchet grumbled, as he and Optimus returned their attention to the computer monitors. "Negatively."

Optimus chuckled slightly. "You need not worry to much, Old friend. It is nice to see the Commander relaxing more -"

He was cut off as the ground-bridge activated. Both a he and Ratchet turned around completely to look at it. Bulkhead and Bumblebee abandoned their game and ran over to join them.

"Ratchet?" Optimus asked, not removing his gaze from the swirling vortex.

Ratchet ran over to the gate controls. "It's off."

"Is it the Cons?" Bulkhead asked, punching his right fist into his left hand. Bumblebee mimicked him.

"Unlikely." Ratchet answered. "They couldn't have traced us here." He looked back at the vortex. "However it is... is..."

His words trailed off as, what appeared to him and the others, a much older Miko and Raf walked through the apex, and the portal disappear.

"What the...?" Bulkhead gasped stupidly.

Bumblebee honk his own confusion, looking at Ratchet for an explanation. Ratchet shrugged silently and returned his gaze to the two mysterious humans.

Optimus stepped forward. "What is the meaning of this? Identify yourselves immediately."

The two humans looked at one another, and up at Prime.

"You know who I am, Optimus." Raf spoke first. "It's me, Raf."

"And I'm Miko." The older girl greeted with a smile. "Don't you recognize us?"

"What you claim is impossible." Optimus said defiantly. "Raphael and Miko are much younger. That, and they are both currently here." He took another step forward and towered over them. "Tell me who you really are. Now!"

Raf sighed. "Okay. Fine. You may find this hard to believe, but we really are who we claim. We're actually from ten years from the future. One we're trying to prevent."

"Exactly." Miko added.

"The future?" Ratchet scoffed. "Impossible. How did you get here then?"

Miko looked at Ratchet between Prime's legs. "You sent us here."

"I beg your pardon?" Ratchet asked in disbelief. "How could I have possibly sent you here?"

"Check the read-out of the portal we just used." Raf suggested. "The last line of the HEX code, which is the year, should read 32 30 32 31."

Ratchet grumbled, but checked anyways. To his amazement, it did. He turned around quickly, a look of shock upon his face plate. "By the All-spark..."

"Readings can be falsified." Optimus stated, turning his head to look at Ratchet. He then looked back at Miko and Raf. "I require further evidence."

Miko rolled her eyes, and then looked at Bulkhead. "Hey, Scrub. Remember that situation when I bailed on detention early to hang with you?"

Bulkhead looked at her in shock. "Miko? Is that really you?"

She winked at him. "Got it in one, Buddy."

Bulkhead looked at Optimus. "It's her, Optimus. Ain't no one else would've known about that."

Optimus looked at Raf. "And what of you, young man? Do you have a similar story to share?"

Raf gulped nervously, and adjusted his glasses. He then looked over at Bumblebee. "When we first met, you stepped on my remote control car. Which was, effectively, a scaled down version of your alt-mode."

Bumblebee honked his approval.

"Fine. Let's just say, for the moment, that you are Raf and Miko." Ratchet said, coming over to stand beside Optimus. "How do you expect us to believe that you are indeed from the future?"

Miko looked at him with a smirk. "Right now, Arcee, Jack, my younger self, and the younger Raf, are up-top using your telescope to watch the meteor shower that's about to take place."

Ratchet was speechless.

"What you don't' know, is that hidden in the meteor shower, is a large ship carrying three autobots." Raf stated. He checked his watch. "And it's going to crash into the bunker in about ten minutes."

"Ratchet." Was all Optimus had to say. The med-bot walked over to the computer and entered a few commands.

"I am reading a weak autobot transponder signal." Ratchet said as he focused on the monitor. "And it is heading for the bunker."

"Very well." Optimus nodded his head. "We'll use the ground-"

"No!" Raf and Miko shouted at the same time.

"You can't use the bridge." Raf explained. "It's a long story, but -" he pointed at Ratchet, Buklhead, and Bumblebee "- You guys have to leave, by normal means, and Optimus-" you looked up at the red titan "-you have to stay here."

"Uh, why?" Bulkhead asked, scratching the side of his head.

"That's just the way it has to be." Miko answered. "Now come on, we haven't got much time."

Optimus was silent as he scrutinized the two humans. Raf looked at him pleadingly.

"Please Optimus, you must believe us." The you man begged, "Even you have admit that our story is far too elaborate to be fake."

"Autobots..." Optimus said, after a few seconds of delay, "Roll out. Bulkhead, make sure our... young friends remain safe.

Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee converted to their alt-modes. And Bulkhead opened his doors so that Raf and Miko could evacuate with them.

They two of them looked at the trusting leader. "Thanks Optimus." And they ran quickly over to Bulkhead and climbed in. With only a seconds hesitation, all three autobots sped out of the bunker.

"And now, let us see if they were-" Optimus began to say, but was cut off abruptly as the Ark erupted through the front wall of the base. He was thrown back several meters, and struck the main computer, knocking it over. As he lay on his back, he watched as the mighty ship ground to halt. Fortunately, it ceased it's advancement some distance from him.

Not so fortunately, Optimus felt a sharp pain in his lower torso, and brought his right hand to feel the extent of the damage. There was a jagged piece of rock in the right side of his "abdomen" and as a result, he was leaking energon.

"This... is less... than optimal..." Optimus groaned. His audio receptors suddenly picked up the sound of metal against rock, as though someone, ore something, was digging through the outer wall of the bunker.

Optimus tried to stand. But due to the energon leak, his legs wouldn't respond. So, he rolled on to his front, favoring his left side, and attempted to drag himself towards the source of the noise. That decision, however, turned out to be a mistake, as his physical assertion caused his wound to flow faster.

"Must... reach... outer wall..." Optimus grunted, "Signal... whoever.. let them... know... I still... function..."

He managed to drag himself another three feet, before his systems shut-down.

…

With a hiss, the doors to the CR chamber opened, and Optimus Prime emerged to be greeted by the faces of Ratchet, Bulkhead, Miko, Raf, Silverbolt, Arcee, Spotter, Blaster, Bumblebee, and Sentinel Prime. The older Raf and Miko were nowhere to be seen, but he would worry about that later.

"You gave us quite the scare there, Optimus." Ratchet greeted his leader.

"How long was I deactivated?" Optimus inquired. He looked about, and realized that he was not, in fact, standing in the bunker's med-bay, but the med-bay of the Ark.

"Approximately twenty-four hours." The medical officer replied. "The damage to your systems, combined with the amount of energon you lost, was substantial."

Sentinel spoke up. "It is good to see that you survived, Optimus." The giant general greeted his decedent. "I was beginning to believe that you would not recover."

Silverbolt chuckled. "It would take a lot more than a mountain falling on him, to extinguish his spark."

"Indeed." Sentinel agreed. He then asked "Be that as it may, how are you functioning Optimus?"

"As well as one could hope, Old friend." Optimus answered. "What is the extent of the damage to the bunker? Is anything salvageable?"

Bulkhead spoke first. "Kinda. Ops is trashed. Might take a week to set everything back up. And another month to clear all the debris."

"The med-bay is functional." Arcee reported. "Although, the main energon line has been severed. Again. I'll need at least two days to fix it."

"And the Ark?" Optimus asked next.

"We managed to restore axillary power." Blaster answered. "That's how we managed to get to you, Optimus."

"The main cannons are functional," Spotter quirked, "as are the shields. However. Without main power, they won't last long in a fight."

Bumblebee beeped and whistled in a concerned tone.

"I agree with Bee." Raf said. "If the Decepticons trace the Ark here, we could use those extra defenses."

"Makes sense to me." Miko agreed, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"A wise observation, Bumblebee." Optimus agreed, looking at the scout. He then turned his attention to Sentinel. "Now that you are here on Earth, Sentinel, do you wish to assume command of the Autobots?"

The tall General crossed his arms in thought. After a few seconds, he answered. "No. I do not. I came to Earth not to replace you, Optimus, but to aid you. As it stands, you shall remain in command of our forces. I am here merely to observe, and to offer advice, and assistance in times of need." He paused for a second as he looked at Blaster and Spotter. "And, as a sign of good faith in your leadership, I place Lieutenant Spotter, and Gunnery Chief Blaster, under your command."

"What? Really?" Spotter asked, turning around and looking at Sentinel with a confused look.

"Do you not approve of my decision?" the giant asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"No." the quirky 'bot said, shaking her head. "Just surprised, really."

"I got no complaints either." Blaster added. "It'll be fun running with Bulkhead again."

"Got that right." The green giant laughed, as the two high-fived.

Silverbolt and Arcee looked at each-other and sighed, "Oh boy..."

Optimus nodded his head in approval. "Very well, Sentinel. I accept your offer. Spotter, Blaster. Welcome to Earth, and to the cause."

"The... cause?" Spotter asked, quirking her "eyebrow".

"Protecting Humanity, as subtlety as we can." Arcee answered, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Although, now that we have a spaceship sticking of our former base -"

"- one that left a not so subtle trench in it's wake -" Ratchet added with an irritated scoff.

"-I really don't see how subtle we can be." Arcee finished.

"That wasn't my fault, Ratchet!" Spotter defended herself, "I couldn't help that the Nemesis shot us down. I did my best." She crossed her arms, "Or would you have preferred that I crashed the Ark into that Human colony?"

Ratchet was about to respond, but Optimus cut him off, by changing the subject. "We have to organize teams, in order to effect repairs as quickly as possible." he looked over all assembled. "Blaster, Bumblebee and Bulkhead?"

"Yes, Optimus." Both Wreckers said at the same time. Bumblebee beeped his acknowledgement.

"You three will relocate the main auto-cannons of the Ark, so that they can function as an effective deterrent against any potential hostiles." Optimus ordered.

"You want them to be auto, or manual?" Blaster asked.

"Whatever you deem best, Blaster." Optimus answered. "Though you should consider giving each cannon it's own battery back-up, should the worst come to pass and the main power be lost."

Understood, Optimus." Bulkhead agreed. "Let's go, you guys."

"Right behind ya, Bulk." Blaster said.

Bumblebee beeped, and all three of them walked out of the repair bay.

"Spotter. Arcee." Optimus acknowledged the two females next. "You to shall attempt to restore main power to the Ark. If we are to defend ourselves effectively, we shall require access to all our potential resources."

"Aw..." Spotter pouted. "why are we being stuck with a boring job?"

"Spotter." Arcee hissed in a warning tone.

"I am merely assigning tasks to the individuals whom are best suited to perform them." Optimus clarified.

"Oh." Spotter chuckled sheepishly. "Right."

"Let's go, loudmouth..." Arcee, grabbed Spotter's hand, and half dragged/ half guided the yellow 'bot out of the room.

"What about me, Optimus?" Silverbolt asked, sounding eager. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Yes." Optimus said. "You may return Miko and Raf to their places of residence. In your ground-mode, please."

"But we wanted to stay here and help." Miko begged "Please?"

"Miko..." Raf said shyly. "Really?"

"I think Optimus has the right idea," Silverbolt said. "If the 'cons show up, you two should be as far away from here as possible. We don't want you guys getting hurt."

"Fine..." Miko grumbled.

As soon as the three friends left the same way as the others, Optimus looked at Ratchet. "Now that we are alone, where are our friends?"

"They're in me." Ratchet explained. He opened his chest, and exposed his interior cab. There sat the older Miko and Raf, looking somewhat disheveled. Ratchet offered his hand to them, and they both climbed out onto it. He then lowered them to the ground.

Sentinel blinked, and lowered himself to a knee, as did Optimus and Ratchet.

"Are my optics malfunctioning?" Sentinel asked, keeping his voice level.

"No, Sentinel, they are not." Optimus answered. "Though you may find this hard to believe, these two humans that stand before you, are indeed older versions of Miko and Raphael. Albeit, from ten years from the future."

"And, what brings them from their time, to ours?" Sentinel inquired, "And by what means did they arrive here?"

"That's a long story, Sentinel." Raf said, looking that the autobot veteran, "I guess you could say, it all started ten years ago, when Ratchet and Bulkhead disappeared..."

TBC.

_A/N: You know my game by now. So no complaints, kay?_


	8. Assult

_A/N: It's been a while hasn't it? Well, I'm back and hopefully I won't take so long to update next time. At least, one could hope._

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Assault

Ensign Pearson was standing on the flight deck of the USS Lincoln.

The ship, along with it's crew, were currently stationed at the Naval Base Guam, at Santa Rita, Guam, on the Mariana Islands. Most of the crew was on shore leave, aside from Pearson, of course. He was part of the skeleton crew to help maintain security, while the ship was being refueled, and resupplied.

Pearson let out a long breath, as he focused his attention on the horizon. His first time to the famous islands, and he was stuck on the ship. At least the weather was nice, he thought, as he made his way towards the command tower.

A sudden buzzing noise filled the air, and Pearson looked up to the blue sky. Quick as a flash, an unmarked F-35 flew past the ship.

"That's odd." Pearson frowned. He didn't know of any training exercises that were going on. And as far as he knew, F-35's weren't stationed at Guam. That, and those jet's were supposed to be low-key. So fly-by's and training flights weren't common.

Just as he was about to go and report the fly-by, just in case the radar crew didn't catch it, Pearson heard a weird clicking noise behind him. He spun around quickly, but saw nothing, aside from a black RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. Which wasn't there before.

"Okay. Something is defiantly going on..." Pearson said aloud, as he walked towards the out of place helicopter. "Where the heck did this come from?"

"Oh, I wouldn't be worrying about me, Little man." an unseen female voice said suddenly. "I'd be more worried about my boss."

"Who the hell said that?" Pearson asked in a worried voice, pulling out his 9 mm side-arm, and pointing it at the cockpit. "Show yourself immediately."

"Aww. Da widdle huwman wants to pway..." The female voice said in a mocking baby voice. "Do you honestly think that little pea-shooter will harm me?"

"Keep trying my patience, Lady, and we'll find out." Pearson said in a waring tone. "Now. Are you going to surrender, or do I have to come in and get you?"

The female voice let out a short, piercing, laugh. "You really want me to come out? Sure thing. Just wait a minute. I'm waiting for my boss to give me the signal."

"What?" Pearson asked in confusion. "Who's this 'boss' you keep mentioning?"

Without warning, the F-35 that flew by earlier started a bombing run, or what appeared to be bombs, on the military base. It seemed to Pearson, that the mysterious jet was targeting the squadron of fighter-jets that where stationed there for defense. In a matter of seconds, all the fighters were destroyed, and the military personnel were sent scrambling.

"What the hell?" Pearson gawked. "There's no way the F-35 could move that fast!"

"You stupid human." the female voice cackled evilly. "That's no mere jet. Just as I -" the sounds of transforming rang out, and what once was a helicopter, had become Blackarachnia "-am no mere helicopter!"

Without pause, or thinking, Pearson fired at the giant robot with pistol. The rounds however, bounced harmlessly off Blackarachnia's armor plating. She yawned mockingly.

"That tickled." She sneered. Using her thumb and forefinger, she picked up the helpless human by the collar. "If you think that bombing run was impressive, you would have liked what was going to happen next. Too bad you won't, however."

"I-I won't?" Pearson asked, his voice trembling with fear.

Blackarachnia smiled, and shook her head 'no'. "I'm afraid not." At that, and with little effort, she threw him as hard as she could towards the ocean.

"Pathetic creatures." She sneered. She looked up at Slipstream, now commencing a third run on the highly damaged base, and smiled. "Time to join the fun." She converted back into her helicopter mode, and began her attack on the aircraft carrier.

She lifted into the air, and targeted the bridge first. She fired her forward laser cannons and reduced it, along with the crew inside, to nothing. She than began taking pot-shots at the deck. Laughing as she did. The humans did their best to get out of the way, but failed, as she she either toyed with them, or out-right slaughtered them.

"Too easy." She sighed in a dejected, yet somewhat proud, voice. She hovered above the decimated ship, and admired her handy work. Charred, smoking hulls of aircraft, deck pieces, and humans were splayed across what remained of the deck. "Now, I wonder where Scorponok is?"

Her questioned was answered as the Combaticon general, in his massive tank mode, rolled in view, and began firing on what remained of the besieged base. Ravage, the ever loyal lap-dog, was right beside him. The black military buggy cruised along, using his cannons to eliminate any human stragglers.

"Ooo. Feisty." Blackarachnia crooned, as she flew over to where Scorponok was. She transformed into her robot mode, and landed in a crouch beside him. "I think the base is ours, General."

"An astute observation, Assassin." Slipstream said with sarcasm, as she too, transformed and landed beside her leader.

Blackarachnia scowled at the other female. "Shut your audio port, Clone. Or I shall be forced to shut it for you."

Slipstream laughed. "Big talk, coming from a bug."

"Silence!" Scorponok boomed, as he transformed into his robot mode. He looked down at the two females, "I will not have you two bickering like sparklings. You are soldiers. And you will act as such. If not, you shall suffer my wrath. Do I make myself clear?"

Blackarachnia and Slipstream looked up at the giant. "Yes, General."

"Ravage. Report." He ordered, turning his attention to his scout. The buggy converted to his panther form.

"The base is heavily damaged." the cat spoke, using a synthesized voice. "Human population reduced to zero. All standing structures reduced to 98 percent."

"Excellent." Scorponok grinned. "Everything went according to plan." He observed the wreckage with pride. One building, immediately to his right, caught his eye. A very tall, very fortified looking, building.

Slipstream followed his gaze. "What's in there?"

"What we came for." Scorponok answered simply. He stomped over to the structure in five giant strides. He grabbed the edge of the roof, and with little effort, tore a sizable chunk off.

"There you are." The giant said, with a malicious grin.

Slipstream and Blackarachnia landed on the edge of the hole.

"What is that?" Slipstream asked, in a confused voice, looking into the hanger.

"It's some kind of jet, you idiot." Blackarachnia answered her, looking inside the hanger herself, before Scorponok could.

Scorponok growled in warning before more insults were traded, then answered, "It is not just some jet, as you so inadequately put Spider. It is a V35 Stingray Stealth Fighter. And my new, second, form."

Slipstream gasped. "Second form? You have the ability to change three times?"

Scorponok glared at his Engineer. "Yes. Now when I am finished scanning this vehicle, I want it, and all scrap metal brought back to the Darksyde. Is that clear?"

"For spare parts?" Blackarachnia scoffed. "And by ourselves, right?"

Scorponok growled yet again, but said nothing. He activated his scanner, and downloaded the jet's schematics into his memory core.

And something else.

"What's this?" Scorponok asked himself in disbelief. "A computer virus?"

A deep, male,laugh came from behind the giant robot. "Yes, Alien. A virus."

Ravage growled at the human, as Scorponok rounded on him. Slipstream and Blackarachnia jumped down and landed beside their leader.

Scorponok laughed. "You think a human virus can affect me? Bah. Shows how little you know about my kind."

"Does it?" The male asked in a stead tone. "I know enough about your kind that I managed to encode a virus that would download itself, when you used your scanning technology. That, and, I now have a sample of said technology to study. Soon, my technicians will have it reversed engineered. So yes, I know enough."

"How do you know of us?" Slipstream asked, scowling at the human. "Explain yourself."

The human casually removed a cigar from his front pocket, and placed it in his mouth. He then struck a match, lit the cigar, and threw the match away. Taking a single puff, he removed the cigar with his right hand, and held it between his forefinger and thumb.

"I've dealt with your kind before." He said.

Scorponok bent down and flicked the cigar out of the human's hand. "You will remove the virus from my systems, or Ravage here will enjoy your flesh."

Ravage hunched his shoulders, and growled menacingly

The human looked up at Scorponok with an amused smirk. "No. You see, we need to work together, and that virus is the only control I have over you."

Slipstream laughed evilly. "What control? All the General has to do, is kill you, and have me cure him of that virus. As for working together? What help can a human give us?"

The human shrugged. "You could try to cure the virus. I'm sure your advanced technology could come up with a cure. However, the virus is designed to "leap" from host to victim upon contact. Touch your leader, and you will be infected. Or, work with me, and I'll give you the shutdown code. It's that simple."

Scorponok scrutinized the human for a minute before he said anything. "You are very cunning for a pathetic sack of meat and bones."

"Thank you."

"And considering the fact that I do not want my troops or ship infected by this... virus, that contaminates me, I see no other option than to work with you."

"Excellent."

"Unless, of course," Scorponok quickly scooped up the human in his right hand, and brought him to face level, "I squeeze the information out you." And began to increase pressure on his grip.

The human's face began to show strain. "You kill me... and... you... will... be... infected... for...ever..." he wheezed.

"Then I die." The Combaticon General sneered. "I bow to no master."

The human, whose face was turning purple, looked a Scorponok with fear. "Mike. Echo. Char...lie. Hotel..."

Scorponok relaxed his grip, but didn't let the human go. "I am free of that virus?"

"Yes." The human breathed roughly, as oxygen flowed freely to his lungs. Then added "You aliens are brutal."

Slipstream laughed. "You just figured that out, little man?"

"And call us Aliens again, and I'll show you how brutal I can be..." Blackarachnia hissed angrily, crossing her arms.

Scorponok narrowed his gaze at the human. "You said you've encountered our kind before. Who were they?"

A group that called themselves the Autobots." the human answered quickly, not wanting to be crushed again.

"You manged to track my ship here." The giant said, "Did you track another ship?"

"Yes."

"Where?" Blackarachnia demanded.

"Jasper, Nevada."

Scorponok placed the human roughly back the ground. "This Island, and the remaining populace, our mine. I now know who you are human. Set foot on this place again, and I shall destroy you. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Take your other humans, the ones that are hiding via your primitive cloaking devices, and your helicopters, and leave." Ravage growled, using his speech protocol.

The human didn't say anything. He simply, and quickly, walked away from the group of cybertronians. However, as he reached his cloaked (now uncloaked) helicopter, he paused from climbing in and looked over his shoulder.

"No one refuses MECH. And no one crosses Silas." Silas scowled. He finished climbing in. He belted himself in and ordered his pilot to take off.

"Take me back to HQ." He demanded, as the helicopter took off. "Project Earthbreaker is now activated."

TBC.

_A/N: So sorry for the long update you guys. Thanks for sticking with me. I promise the next chapter will be up much (x10) quicker next time._


	9. Discussion

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Discussion

Raf decided to answer. "Okay. We come from a very hopeless future. Well, hopeless when we left. But I'll get back to that." He let out a heavy breath, then continued. "See, when you guys originally showed up in the Ark," He pointed at Sentinel, "Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee used the ground-bridge to escape. Something went wrong, and Ratchet and Bulkhead were lost for ten years."

"What?" Ratchet asked, "How is that possible?"

"We don't know." Miko shrugged. "Anyways, with those two gone, things pretty much went downhill from there. Bumblebee managed to make his way back, but he was damaged. And without Ratchet, he couldn't really fight."

"Right." Raf picked up from there. "Well, an hour after Bee got back, the Combaticons showed up, lead by Scorponok. Optimus told Arcee, Spotter, and Silverbolt to retreat, with Miko, and me."

"Yeah," Miko said, "We managed to escape, but Arcee and Spotter went back to help. But once the Nemesis showed up, along with Megatron -"

"Megatron still functions?" Optimus asked in a concerned, but calm voice.

"Yes." Raf nodded his head. "We don't really know what happened next, exactly. But, Sentinel, you Optimus, and Blaster were killed. Spotter was destroyed from the waist up, and Arcee vice versa."

"Bumblebee was cut in half at the waist, but Silverbolt managed to recover him and Arcee." Miko said. "But two drones managed to get the drop on him and mess him up. He destroyed them, though they couldn't report back to Megatron."

"I see." Optimus hmm'd. "And how did you two manage to survive all that time?"

"Silverbolt swore to protect us." Raf answered with pride. "We ate the military rations left over in the bunker, and Silverbolt rebuilt Ops."

"And how did you come to our time?" Sentinel asked.

"Well..." Miko said, a little hesitantly, "Ratchet, our Ratchet, used the rebuilt ground-bridge, that Bulkhead and Silverbolt fixed, to bring us here. But he never told us how."

"Hump," Ratchet grumbled. "Fine. But you mentioned that the future was hopeless before you left. What happened?"

"Well, in order for you guys to get rid of a techno virus developed by MECH-" Miko continued, but Sentinel cut her off.

"I apologize, Miko. But who, or what, is MECH?"

"A human organization, bent on conquering this world by use of advanced technology." Optimus explained. "And, through series of uncontrollable circumstances, discovered who we autobots are. Now, they are obsessed with us, and are trying to steal our own technology, in order to duplicate it."

"I see." Sentinel said. "Please continue, Miko."

"Well, like I said, MECH used a virus to knock out all tech that wasn't the Cons." The older girl explained. "Which meant our team couldn't change forms, or do anything. So we, that is Arcee, Bee, and Ratchet, rigged the Ark's drive-core to emit an EMP blast-"

"And wipe out the virus for good." Ratchet said in awe. "Foolish, but also very clever."

"And now we're here." Raf finished, somewhat lamely.

Optimus looked deep in thought. "And, you are unable to return to you own time?"

"Our Ratchet said that would be a bad thing." Miko looked at the titan with a smirk. "First, he said that the time line may not even exist anymore-"

"-And if it did," Raf said with a shrug "Now that Megatron is aware that those guys survived, he'll stop at nothing to destroy them. So, it would be safer for us to remain here."

"Of course." Sentinel agreed. "However, if your younger selves where to discover your existence-"

"The repercussions could be catastrophic." Optimus said.

"Then what should we do, Optimus?" Ratchet asked. "We can't just get rid of them. Not after what they've been through."

"Are you concerned, Ratchet?" Miko quipped with a chuckle. "You're not going soft, are you?"

Ratchet narrowed his eyes at the sarcastic girl, and grunted. "Hardly."

"No, Ratchet." Optimus agreed with his medical officer. "I would never suggest that we do. They are ours to protect now. And we must do our best to keep them safe."

Sentinel took a minute to asses the situation. "They require new identities then. That much is obvious. That, and they seem to be giving off a rather pungent smell. Is this common for humans?"

Ratchet shook his head. "While humans can be rather, smelly, at times, this level of odor is uncommon. I suggest they get a change of clothes, and a decontamination bath. Not particularity in that order, though."

Miko and Raf looked rather indignant.

"Hey." Raf grumbled, looking rather put out, "It's not our fault we haven't bathed in 10 years.

Miko crossed her arms and frowned at the med-bot. "Yeah. Proper hygiene wasn't exactly at the top of our list, you know."

Optimus decided to intervene before things got out of hand. "While our older human friends are in need of a bath, Ratchet, I believe Sentinel was referring to Raf and Miko's pheromone levels."

"Our... what?" Miko gasped, looking stunned.

Raf hid his with both his hands face, as he blushed rather brightly.

"Their bio-metric readings suggest they wish to mate with one another." Sentinel explained, as he "sniffed" the air again. Not realizing what he was saying.

Miko blushed as she realized what the autobot general was suggesting. "What? Are you saying... that I..., that we actually want to..."

"Please don't finish that sentence, Miko," Raf pleaded.

"What is that matter, Rafael?" Sentinel asked out of concern. "Miko is a fertile female of breeding age. Why would not wish to mate with her?"

"Humans do not simply mate with each-other, Sentinel." Optimus explained, as Miko and Rad looked anywhere but at one another. "They have courtships and traditions that they follow. It does not always make sense to us Autobots, but, that is how it is done on Earth. With various degrees amongst certain cultures."

"Be that as it may, they still need clothes, a bath, and some food that doesn't consist of Military rations." Ratchet said, going back to his original point. "Should we call Mrs. Darby for assistance? She's most likely the only individual we can trust to help at this point."

"Who is this, Mrs. Darby, that you refer to, Ratchet?" Sentinel asked out of concern.

"Silverbolt's mother." Miko decided to answer, now that they weren't discussing her and Raf's "mating rituals". "She can be trusted with our secret, that's for sure."

"I agree with Miko and Ratchet's assessment." Optimus added. He activated his communicator. After a few rings, the call was answered.

"Hello, Optimus." June's voice said. "How are you today?"

"I am fine, June." Optimus answered, being used to that particular human tradition. "Thank you for asking."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of the leader of the Autobots calling me?" June asked with a touch of laughter in her voice. "Usually it's Jack that calls."

"Jack is busy returning Miko and Raf to their homes at the moment, June." Optimus explained. "What I require is your assistance in a rather, delicate, matter."

"The last time you asked me for help, Jack was infected." June stated, sounding concerned. "Are one of the children hurt?"

"No." Optimus reassured her. "What I require your help with, is something completely different. Are you able to come to our base of operations?"

June sounded curious, but answered anyways. "Yes. I am. I can there within half an hour. Is that alright?"

"That is acceptable." Optimus said. "I will see you then. Good day, June."

"Goodbye, Optimus." June said, disconnecting the call.

Raf spoke up, voicing his concern, "You know she's going to freak out when she see's us."

"To say the least." Miko added, reverting to her old habit of blowing her bangs out of her face.

"That's a risk we have to take." Ratchet said, as though it was obvious. "Now, what shall we call you two, should you accidentally be discovered?"

"June once tried to fool me with the names Mike and Rachael." Optimus admitted. "Those identities should be adequate."

Miko crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Ugh. What's with you guys and lame code-names? Why the heck would I want to be called Rachael?"

"I kinda like it. It suits you." Rad admitted, rubbing the back of his head, looking at her shyly. "And really, those names are better then nothing."

Miko shrugged, but didn't say anything. She did notice, however, that Sentinel was sniffing the air again. She narrowed her eyes, and pointed a threatening finger at him. "Not a word, match-maker."

The titan didn't now what to say, so he remained silent.

"Since the name issue is settled-" Ratchet began, but stopped once his audio receptors picked up something.

"... So I forgot my purse, big deal." the younger Miko said, as she walked back into the Ark's med-lab. She stopped short as soon as she saw her older self, and the older Raf.

" It is a big deal, Miko." Silverbolt said, as he an Raf came walking in, "I don't like wasting... wasting... what the frag?"

"Who are those guys?" the younger Raf asked, as he adjusted his glasses. "And why do they look familiar?"

Miko looked over her shoulder with a look of disbelief. "Really, Raf?"

"What?"

"Uh, hey Optimus." Silverbolt greeted, rubbing the back if his neck. "Sorry about-"

"Do not worry, Silverbolt," The autobot leader said, as he stood up. Ratchet and Sentinel stood up as well. He looked at Raf. The younger Raf, and answered "Do not be alarmed. But the two individuals you see before you are your older selves."

"H-How much... uh, older?" Miko asked, her voice squeaking with a mixture of awe nerves.

"It's okay, Optimus, I got this." The older Miko said, as she walked over to the young girl. She bent down and looked her in the eye. "You're shorter than I remembered."

"I'm still tall-" Young Miko began to argue, but was cut off by her older self.

"-for my age. Yeah. I remember saying that." Old Miko chuckled, as she stood up straight. "Man. That brings back memories."

"Speak for yourself." Young Miko said a sarcastic tone. "You still didn't answer my question."

Young Raf decided to answer for Old Miko. "Judging by their height, hair length, and the amount of dirt, dust, and grime on their clothes... I would hazard a guess at ten years or so."

"Was I always like that?" Old Raf asked rhetorically.

"Yep." Both Miko's answered anyways at the same time, looking at Old Raf.

"Funny." Old Raf quipped, shaking his head. "But yes, uh, Me. We're from ten years in the future."

"How is this even possible?" Silverbolt asked. "Isn't time travel... I don't know... impossible."

Ratchet sighed, and crossed his arms. "Clearly not, considering the evidence right in front of you. But, we can't get side-tracked by that story. Just accept the fact that those two are from the future, no questions asked, and let's move on."

"Okay." Miko said, still staring at Old Miko. "Are there any weird time-travel rules we should know about?"

"There's one paradox that we should consider." Old Raf said. "It's the theory that no two people can exist at the same place, at the same time." Everyone was looking at him, "Basically, just don't touch each-other."

"What would happen if they do?" Optimus asked, now concerned.

Young Raf picked up on the tone. "Nothing to the point of certainty. But, in theory the person in question could merge, and either melt, become one person with traits from both people, or erase themselves from time completely."

"You mean, the person would have never existed, at all?" Ratchet asked in an astonished voice.

"Possibly." Young Raf shrugged. "But it's best that we rather not take that chance."

The two Miko's exchanged a look, and quickly put some distance between themselves.

"Now that they are aware of their older selves," Sentinel said, then looked over at Optimus "What are we going to do, Optimus?"

"A difficult question, General." The red and blue titan said. "I still believe our future guests need some rest and relaxation. As for their fate? That is a decision that must wait until all factors are considered."

"I agree, Optimus." Ratchet said. "Once things have settled down, then we can decide what to do with them."

"We're not considering just abandoning them, are we?" Silverbolt asked, almost in a demanding tone.

"No, Young warrior, we are not." Sentinel stated, in a relaxing tone. Abandonment is not the Autobot way."

Both Rafs and Mikos let out a sigh of relief.

"They cannot remain here, though." Optimus added. "Again, that is something to discuss later. For now-"

"Arcee to all Autobots. Respond." Arcee's voice suddenly said, coming through all their communicators.

"Bulkhead here."

"Blaster reading you loud and clear."

"Sentinel standing by."

Bumblebee honked and beeped.

"Optimus here."

"Ratchet here."

"Silverbolt ready to go."

"Spotter and I just got the main power on-line, and the Ark's radar just lit up with three contacts." Arcee said.

"Yeah." Spotter added, sounding worried. "Three hostile contacts."

"You are certain of this?" Optimus asked.

"Very." Arcee answered. "Two are unknown. Which are coming from the south and east. And the third... it matches the Nemesis. It's coming from the North."

"What's the ETA, Arcee?" Blaster asked, sounding a little worried and shocked.

Spotter answered, "I'd say... 30 for the Nemesis. 45 for the unknown coming from the South. And about 25 to 30 for the unknown coming from the East."

"That doesn't sound good." Silverbolt said.

Optimus, however, was calm. "Bulkhead. Status?"

"We got one cannon removed, Boss." Bulkhead answered. "We can have it relocated, and running in about 25 minutes, if we had some help."

The red and blue titan looked over a Silverbolt. "Silverbolt?"

"On it." The silver bot said, as he ran out to help.

Optimus then looked over at Sentinel, and nodded his head.

Sentinel drew himself up to his full height. "Autobots. Battle stations."

TBC.

_A/N: And that's how it's played._


	10. Veni, Vidi, Vici

**Forever is a Long Time Coming**

Veni, Vidi, Vici

A battle was coming.

Of that, the Autobots were certain.

Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime, Bulkhead, Arcee, Spotter, Silverbolt, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Blaster stood side by side, in a straight line, 10 feet from the back exit ramp of the Ark. Optimus, and Sentinel both had their face plates covering their mouths. Silverbolt had his visor down, covering his eyes. And all the Autobots, excluding both Primes, had their forearms converted into their respected laser cannons.

Optimus Prime looked to his left. Silverbolt, Arcee, Spotter, and Blaster had their eyes focused on the horizon. If they were nervous, and he would not fault them for being so, the warriors did not show it. He then looked to his right. The same held true for Sentinel, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead. He knew they would all give their sparks for the cause. He knew they would all fight to the last. He hoped that they would all survive this day.

He hoped.

"Autobots." He spoke, looking to the horizon himself. "It has been a honor and a privilege to know you and to fight beside you. Know that, should we not survive to see this day end, that if we should fall to our enemies, that we do so with honor." He paused to look to his right and left again. All eyes were on him. After looking at each of them in the eye, he returned his gaze to the horizon. "May the Matrix preserve us, watch over us, and guide us."

With a sudden, almighty boom, Scorponok transformed from his jet mode and landed 20 feet from the Autobot line. Slipstream and Blackarachnia were next to land. Slipstream landed to his right, and Blackarachnia, to his left, converting from their jet mode, and helicopter mode, respectively. Ravage, in his cat form, jumped down from Scorponok's open cockpit and landed in front of his master. He let out a fierce growl for good measure.

Optimus took a step forward. "Scorponok."

The Combaticon General narrowed his eyes. "Optimus Prime. Still functioning I see."

"I offer you a choice." Optimus said, pointing at the giant. "Stand down and join our cause. Or fight, and risk losing everything."

Scorponok laughed. "Stand down? I think not, Prime. I did not come here to negotiate. I came here to destroy you and your retched Autobots."

Sentinel pointed at Scorponok. "You claim to hate Megatron, and refuse to bow to him. Yet, here you are, willing to do his dirty work. Does that sound logical to you, General?"

"Megatron and I may share a common goal," Scorponok countered, "But I do not follow him. The destruction of Autobot cause is what I desire most. And once I am done with that, the Decepticons will soon follow."

Optimus stood ridged. "Scorponok. Cybertron is lost. The war is over. Why continue to fight? For what purpose do you stand for?"

"I thought that was obvious, Prime." Scorponok sneered. "I will take Earth as my own. Any and all whom stand in my way, will perish."

Silverbolt had heard enough. He took several threatening steps forward "You're welcome to try, you overgrown junk pile!"

"Bolt, don't!" Arcee begged, as she changed her arms back, grabbed his right arm, and held him back. "He'll destroy you."

Blackarachnia looked at the struggling pair. "Jack?"

Arcee and Silverbolt froze.

"My, my..." The assassin chuckled. "Little Jack is all grown up. My how you've changed."

Silverbolt smiled back. "And I see you haven't. Nice scar, by the way."

Blackarachnia's face contorted with simmering rage. "I owe you for that. Been looking forward to it for a long time."

"Explain this, Spider." Scorponok demanded.

Slipstream answered for her, looking up at her leader. "You remember that human she told us about? The one that got the best of her, and blew up her ship? Yeah. That silver autobot over there is that kid. How, I don't know."

Blackarachnia's fists were balled. She looked ready to pounce at any second. "I don't care if he's an autobot now. I want his head."

"Then come and get-" Silverbolt started to say.

"Silverbolt. Stand down." Optimus ordered, cutting the young bot off. He turned his attention back to the combaticons.

Scorponok sneered. "It looks as though peace was never an option, Prime. Though I have an offer. Surrender without conflict, and I promise your deaths will be swift. As for your precious humans, no harm will come to them." He crossed his arms. "Do not, and I destroy you, Sentinel, and let Blackarachnia have her way with your troops. And I will kill every single human on this pathetic rock."

"Ah. Now see? That is why you will never succeed, fool. You lack vision." A familiar voice suddenly said, causing the Autobots to look left, and the Combaticons to look right.

There stood Megatron. Along with Starscream, Knock Out, Breakdown, and Soundwave. And they were backed by no less than 40 drones.

"Megatron?" Optimus questioned, his eyes narrowing. The older Miko had mentioned that he was functioning in the future. Though he would never had truly believed it, until he saw him for himself.

"In the flesh, so to speak." Megatron laughed cruelly. "And I have brought my ship and my entire army with me."

"Those drones are nothing." Scorponok growled. "I could destroy them without effort."

Megatron smiled evilly at the giant. "And there is your folly. Did you honestly believe I would bring along standard drones to such... a pinnacle battle? No. These drones have been infused with dark energon." He looked down at his commander, "Isn't that correct, Starscream?"

"Yes. Lord Megatron." Starscream responded in a monotone voice. His joints and eyes glowed with a sinister, purple light.

"Ever so faithful now." Megatron commented. "Such is the power of the anti-spark."

Scorponok didn't look impressed. "Dark energon or not. I will crush your troops, and take your canon as a trophy."

Now it was Megatron's turn to look unimpressed. He gestured to his arm. "You are welcome to it."

At those words, all hell broke loose.

Scorponok readied his canons and began firing at the gathered Decepticons. Megatron dodged the attack, and returned fire. The drones that were behind him, tried to avoid the barrage. Most of them managed to disperse, and either take to the sky in their jet modes, or to the ground in their car modes. The others where disintegrated, now only 30 or so remained.

Breakdown and Knock Out, meanwhile, transformed and charged at the gathered Autobots. More specifically, Blaster and Bulkhead. The two Wreckers, however, transformed to their vehicle modes and charged back.

Starscream converted into his flight mode, and joined the drones in the sky. Blackarachnia and Slipstream followed suit, and began an aerial dogfight. Taking shots at both the seeker commander, and the drones. Silverbolt, wanting payback against Blackarachnia, converted to flight mode and took off after the two combaticons.

Ravage remained in his cat mode, and charged at Spotter and Arcee. Before he could reach them, Bumblebee, in his car mode, rammed into him, and sent him sprawling. The scout returned to his robot mode, and beeped a challenge at the beast. Which the cat happily accepted, as he quickly rebounded and pounced.

Optimus, Ratchet, and Sentinel were drawn into the fire fight between Megatron and Scorponok. All five combatants had sought cover behind thick outcroppings of rock. And took turns taking pot-shots at one another, neither seeming to gain the upper hand.

Not wanting to be easy targets, Arcee and Spotter converted to their travel modes, and began to thin out the ground drones, all the while avoiding the sky drones that where now dropping from the sky. Thanks to the efforts of Silverbolt, Slipstream, and Blackarachina. Though not the combined efforts of those three.

...

Blaster and Bulkhead where now in a all out race with Knock Out and Breakdown, who had turned tail and ran. Both Autobots had power, but Knock Out had speed. So catching him would be difficult. Bit not impossible.

"Try to catch me, Bulkhead!" Knock Out taunted the green SUV. "You never will!"

"Let's just see about that." Bulkhead said quietly to himself.

Seeing an opportunity (and knowing the lay of the land) Bulkhead raced up a rock ramp, leaped off, and managed to collide with the race car. The crash sent both of them rolling (and transforming as then went).

"Pesky Autobot." Knock Out cursed as he stood up, and readied his staff. "You'll pay for those scratches."

Bulkhead changed his hand into his wrecking ball. "And I gotta pay ya back for what ya did to Arcee."

While Bulkhead was distracted, Breakdown tried to crash into him. Only to be stopped at the last moment by a shoulder check from Blaster.

"Not so fast, Con!" Blaster challenged, as Breakdown came to a stop beside Knock Out. The blue truck quickly transformed and scowled at the tactical officer. "You mess with one Wrecker, you mess with them all."

"I'll crush both of you!" Breakdown yelled back. Both he and Knock Out didn't mince words. They ran at the Wreckers at full speed. Blaster laughed.

"Let's get this party started!"

Breakdown collided with Blaster, and Knock Out tried to hit Bulkhead with his staff. Surprisingly, Bulkhead sidestepped the race-car, grabbed his staff, pivoted 180*, and used the momentum to send the medical bot flying back to original spot. Albeit of his face.

Blaster and Breakdown went rolling, with the blue con landing on top.

"I'm going to tear out your optics!" Breakdown roared, as he tried to grab Blaster's head.

Blaster grunted as he did his best against Breakdowns attack. "Get off me ya big lug!"

"My pleasure." Bulkhead said suddenly. He grabbed Breakdown and hoisted him above his head (with some effort) and tossed him to where Knock Out had landed. Right on top of Knock Out, to be exact.

"Thanks for the save, but I had it under control." Blaster quipped, as Bulkhead hoisted him to his feet.

"'Course ya did." Bulkhead deadpanned. "Now, how about you sing 'em a lullaby?"

Blaster smirked and activated his leg mounted sonic cannons.

The resulting sound waves hit the prone cons like a wall. Both Knock Out and Breakdown were sent flying into a rock wall.

"Useful." Bulkhead commented, patting his friend on the back. "Now let's finish 'em."

"Right, Bulk." Blaster agreed. He deactivated his cannons.

However. Before they could walk over and finish the two cons off, all four cybertronians were suddenly hit with half a dozen wires each.

"What the...?" Bulkhead asked. But before anyone could say anything else, the wires charged, sending a high voltage attack into each bot. And there were all immediately shut down.

…

"You want to play, Jack? You should have just said so!" Blackarachnia laughed as she chased after the silver jet. Firing widely, and laughing as he dodged.

Silverbolt pulled into a vertical corkscrew. A maneuver which he knew Blackarachnia wouldn't be able to copy. He then pulled a u-turn, so that he was now pointed at the ground, and aimed right for the helicopter. Has he neared her, he transformed into robot mode, and landed on top of her.

"Get of me, you pest!" Blackarachnia screeched as she pitched left and right, trying to shake him off.

"Sorry." Silverbolt laughed, "Can't do that." Holding on tight with one hand, he changed his other hand into his sword. With a yell, he tore into Blackarachnia's hull, nearly taking of her rotary blades.

The assassin cried out in pain as she plummeted towards the earth. Silverbolt jumped off her, and transformed back into his jet mode. She managed to transform into her robot form, however, before she hit the ground, but she still left an impact crater.

Silverbolt landed, and crossed his arms. "If you can, why don't you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and fight me, so we can finish this once and for all?"

With an angry hiss, Blackarachnia crawled out of the hole she had made. "That's twice you got the drop on me, Jack. It won't happen again. I promise you that."

Silverbolt uncrossed his arms and changed both of his hands into swords. "Come and get me."

"DIE!" Blackarachnia yelled as she ran at him.

He swiped at her with both swords, but she bent backwards at her waist, and dodged them. Using her momentum, she brought a leg up, and connected her foot with his jaw. This fazed the warrior, and sent his stumbling back a few steps. Using his confusion to her advantage, she ran forward, jumped, and used both her feet to kick him hard in the chest. Silverbolt landed on his back, with the con still on top of him. Before he could react though, she jumped off and flipped away from him.

"Poor little Jack." She cackled, as she landed facing him, several feet away. "All that power, and you can't touch me."

Silverbolt smirked. "Only that I did, while we were flying."

Blackarachnia clenched her teeth. "A lucky shot. That's now two scars I owe you for."

"Standing right her." Silverbolt shrugged. "Come and get me."

"You will regret the day-" the assassin began to say, as she ran at him again. That is, until a combined flying-kick from Spotter and Arcee sent her flying backwards.

Arcee and Spotter landed in a crouch, then stood up and crossed their arms in triumph. Arcee turned her head, and looked back at Silverbolt.

"Can't do a thing without me, can you?" She quirked an "eyebrow" at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Silverbolt grumbled as he walked up beside them. They all turned their attention to the fuming Combaticon.

"Pests..." Blackarachnia growled. "You won't get away with this. Why are you all looking behind me?"

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around. Bumblebee was there. He waved at her, and then connected a powerful punch with her jaw. The result was immediate, as she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Nice work, Bee." Spotter giggled. "But what happened to Ravage?"

Bumblebee threw a thumb over his shoulder, indicating to a spot where the cat lay on his side. He let out a string of beeps in response as well.

"Good one." Silverbolt laughed. "Now let's go help-"

A grenade landed in front of him. It beeped twice, and then released an EMP dome shaped shock-wave.

…

"You shall die this day, Megatron!" Scorponok yelled from behind his cover. "As so shall you, you annoying Autobots!"

"He doesn't know when to quit, does he?" Ratchet asked, from behind his cover that he shared with the two Primes.

"No, Ratchet, he does not." Optimus agreed.

"I second that." Sentinel added, as he used his cannon to make sure Megatron stayed behind his cover. "And neither does Megatron."

A sudden shot from Starscream, from above, caused Sentinel to duck.

"Pathetic fool." The Seeker laughed, as he landed beside Megatron.

A blast from Slipstream, however, caught him in the chest. The blast staggered him, but didn't do anything other than annoy him.

"You cannot harm me while Dark energon flows through me." Starscream laughed again, as the female jet landed beside Scorponok.

"Is that so?" The Combaticon leader asked, as he sent a double shot at the laughing jet. The blast dropped him to his knee, and stopped him laughing, but once again, did nothing.

"Yes." Starscream answered.

Megatron looked down at his commander, and dragged him behind cover. "Stop being an idiot, Starscream."

While the two groups of cons fought each other, Ratchet remembered something.

"Optimus," The medic said, "Shall I activate...?" He gestured towards his arm computer.

Optimus silently nodded his head.

"Teletraan 1." Ratchet spoke into his comm. "Activate."

_Teletraan 1 on-line, _The voice of the Ark's defense spoke. _Activating perimeter defenses._

One of the Ark's anti-ship turrets popped out of the ground. And the air around the Ark, and what remained of the mountain, shimmered as the Ark's shields came on-line.

_Hostile signatures detected. _Teletraan 1 announced. The turret aimed in the direction of the Decepticons and the Combaticons.

"What is this madness?" Megatron asked in anger.

Sentinel withdrew his face plate. "I believe this is what humans call 'an ace up our sleeve'. You did not think we would not be prepared for you, did you Megatron?"

"I'll show you!" Slipstream challenged. She jumped out from behind her cover, and blasted the turret with both of her cannons. The bounced harmlessly off it's hull.

_Hostile detected. _

Slipstream caught a low-yield blast full in the chest. She wasn't knocked back very far, but she was down for the count.

"Well played, Autobots." Came the voice of Silas. "Well played, indeed."

There, in the middle of the battlefield stood the human leader of MECH. He was casually smoking a cigar. And he did not look worried at all.

"Silas." Optimus Prime said, as he stood up. "This is not the time for your interference. Leave. Now."

"I think this is the perfect time." Silas disagreed calmly. "See, while you aliens were fighting each-other, I managed to not only land my jet, but off -load it's cargo, as well." He pointed at a group of ordinary looking construction equipment.

There, a few short meters away, where six blue and gray vehicles. A backhoe excavator, a dump truck, a cement mixer, a front-end loader, a bulldozer, and a crane truck. They where all lined up in a row.

"What is those supposed to do?" Megatron asked, with an evil laugh. "Are they meant to frighten us?"

"On their own? No." Silas answered. "However..." he activated a wrist-mounted control. "Transform."

All six vehicles transformed into six, very intimidating looking, robot's. They were of various shapes and sizes, but, they all stood nearly as tall as Optimus Prime. A fact, that Scorponok pointed out.

"Ha." the general said. "Those are small compared to me. And besides, we still have you outnumbered."

Silas laughed. "Not quite, Alien. See, while you were fighting, your troops were captured, and loaded on to my plane." He gestured casually to a C-17 Globemaster 3 cargo jet.

"You monster!" Ratchet exclaimed, as he went to rush the annoying human.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Silas tsk'd, stopping Ratchet in his tracks "See, if don't return to my plane, unharmed," he looked at Scorponok, "My troops are ordered to take the other aliens, and then dump them in the Arctic Ocean."

"You are insane." Sentinel said in disbelief.

Silas smirked at the red titan. "Perhaps. But I'm also very smart. Watch." He activated his control again. "Robots. Assemble."

The six machines converted back into their vehicles. The front end loader, and cement truck, the changed into legs. The backhoe, and crane changed in to giant arms. The dump truck became a torso. Then, they assembled into a crude looking robot. Then using it's arms, the robot pick up the bulldozer. It placed it where the head would go, and the machine then became a head and chest armor.

It flexed it's arms mightily, standing 120 feet tall, and said "I AM DEVASTATOR. I AM YOUR DOOM."

The End.

_A/N: And there it is, folks. See ya next time!_


End file.
